Determinants of occupational burnout among employees of the Emergency Medical Services in Poland

Abstract

Introduction. Occupational burnout is a multifaceted phenomenon and a problem often encountered among medical personnel. An example of such a group are workers of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The aim of the present study was to make an attempt to assess the level of job burnout among professionally active employees of the EMS and to compare the different occupational groups (paramedics, nurses of the system, doctors of the system) according to four analyzed factors. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was performed using an on-line questionnaire. Four factors impacting the level of burnout were analyzed: 1) attitude to work; 2) workload; 3) contact with the patient; 4) attitude to stress). The minimum possible result on the scale is 36 points and the maximum-252. Data were analysed by means of the Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the Spearman correlation, the Ramsey RESET test, the Chow test, VIF statistics. Results. The average score for occupational burnout was 131.0 points (SD ± 31.47). The tool's reliability measured by means of Cronbach's alpha was 0.910). Both nurses and doctors obtained higher results throughout the scale (β stand. 0.147 and 0.215). Significant differences were shown between the group working only in the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) teams and the other services (land EMS, emergency rooms, etc.) at the level of p < 0.000. Conclusions. EMS employees encounter varying degrees of threat by occupational burnout. Doctors working in the system are shown to have the highest level of burnout, while paramedics the lowest. Among all the jobs analyzed, the lowest level of occupational burnout has been demonstrated by employees of HEMS.

Investigating Occupational Stress of Disaster and Emergency Medical Management Center 115 and the Role of Demographic Variables in Kermanshah, Iran

“…And in fact, there was a significant difference in the occupational stress of technicians working in emergency medical services and other services (earthy emergency medical services, emergency medical departments, etc.) and they had clearly experienced less stress [23]. Similar results were obtained in other medical groups, and Yuwanich et al showed that nurses in the emergency medical department were more exposed to occupational stress compared to nurses in other sections due to their higher workload [15].…”

“…Leszczynski et al showed that physicians and nurses in the emergency medical services department suffered more burnout compared to emergency medical personnel. They stated that emergency medical service personnel experienced the least amount of burnout compared to their colleagues [23]. Yuwanich et al in Thailand announced that nurses of emergency medical services department are more at risk of occupational stress compared to nurses in other departments and less work experience is related to the stress [15].…”

Role of demographic variables in investigating occupational stress of disaster and emergency medical management center 115

“…Leszczyński et al reported that the EMS employees experience varying degrees of occupational stress depending on the place of work because the technicians working in air EMS services had experienced less stress than other services (ground EMS services, emergency departments, etc.) [37]. Other medical groups revealed similar results.…”

“…Leszczynski et al emphasized that physicians and nurses in the emergency medical services department suffered more burnout than emergency medical personnel did. They stated that emergency medical service personnel experienced the least amount of burnout compared to their colleagues [37]. Besides, the problems discussed above, emergency medical personnel employed by the Iranian Government's health-care system are involved in addressing other challenges, such as staff shortages, inadequate equipment, inadequate training of the necessary standards, interaction with people, skills training issues, anxiety and various forms of emotional distress [9,38].…”

Occupational Burnout Syndrome in Polish Physicians: A Systematic Review

“…In a study by Makara-Studzinska et al every second physician showed a high level of BS [55], while Czekajska-Chehab et al reported 37% of the examined population [36]. On the other hand, Leszczynski et al reported 16% [54], whereas Misiolek et al reported 18% [52]. Nevertheless, a vast majority of the articles focused on the severity of individual symptoms.…”