Resilience and Burnout Resources in Respiratory Care Departments

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Burnout is a major problem in health care, with rates of approximately 33% and 50% in nurses and physicians, respectively, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Respiratory therapist (RT) burnout rates and drivers have not been specifically examined. The purpose of this project was to determine resilience and burnout resources available within respiratory care departments and to provide an estimate of pre-and post-COVID-19 RT burnout rates. METHODS: A survey was developed to evaluate resilience and burnout resources in respiratory care departments. The survey was posted online to the AARConnect management, education, adult acute care, neonatal/pediatrics, COVID-19, and help line communities. Data analysis was descriptive. Key drivers of burnout among RTs were identified from qualitative answers. RESULTS: There were 221 responses, and 72% reported experiencing burnout. Ten percent of the departments that responded measured burnout; 36% utilized resilience tools, and 83% offered free employee assistance for those struggling with burnout. In January 2020, 30% of departments reported an estimated burnout rate > 40%, which increased to 44% of departments (P 5 .007) in the COVID-19 pandemic period. The most common drivers reported were poor leadership (32%), high work load (31%), and staffing (29%); 93% of respondents agreed that burnout is a major problem in health care, 33% agreed that burnout is primarily driven by external factors, 92% agreed that RTs have a similar risk of burnout as other health care professionals, 73% agreed that they were comfortable discussing challenging situations with colleagues, 32% agreed that their leadership provided adequate support for those suffering from burnout, and 79% agreed that they would be open to utilizing resilience tools from the AARC or other professional organizations. CONCLUSIONS: Most respondents experienced burnout and few respiratory care departments measured burnout. Resilience resources were not commonly used but employee assistance and wellness programs were common. Key drivers of burnout identified were poor leadership, staffing, and high workloads.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction in Healthcare Personnel: A Systematic Review of the Literature Published during the First Year of the Pandemic

“…The most-examined country was the United States of America, with 15 studies [ 38 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 56 , 65 , 72 , 73 , 75 , 81 , 86 , 92 , 94 , 104 , 109 ]. The two European countries in which the effects of COVID-19 were most studied were Italy and Spain, with eleven [ 8 , 43 , 45 , 55 , 57 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 93 , 101 , 102 ] and seven articles [ 44 , 62 , 78 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 95 , 98 ], respectively.…”

“…Regarding the study variables, burnout was studied in 67 (88%) of the papers included in this review, most often with the Maslach Burnout Inventory [ 8 , 40 , 42 , 43 , 46 , 48 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 60 , 68 , 70 , 78 , 84 , 85 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 92 , 93 , 96 , 97 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 109 , 110 ]. A total of 61% of the studies used the aforementioned questionnaire or one of its derivatives: the aMBI [ 52 , 74 , 75 ], CMBI [ 7 , 48 ], Mini-z MBI [ 50 , 51 ], MBI-HHS [ 39 , 71 , 82 , 90 , 108 ], or PWLS [ 73 ].…”

“…The highest burnout found in the reviewed studies was been for infectious disease physicians in the Republic of Korea, with 90% of them presenting burnout [ 90 ]. The lowest burnout was found in a study carried out in Spain, in which burnout was present in 20.4% of health professionals [ 84 ].…”

“…The average level of burnout among healthcare professionals was high, especially on the emotional exhaustion and depersonalization subscales [ 7 , 39 , 43 , 52 , 63 , 64 , 71 , 88 ]. Some studies indicated high scores as a consequence of the pandemic on the personal accomplishment subscale [ 75 , 78 ], although these were lower in other studies [ 7 , 39 , 52 , 60 , 84 ]. Numerous reports pointed out the influence that some variables had on the perception of burnout, although 31% (24) of the studies that evaluated burnout did not study its relationship with other variables.…”

Experiences of moral distress in a COVID‐19 intensive care unit: A qualitative study of nurses and respiratory therapists in the United States

“…ICUs are particularly challenging environments, as they are fast‐paced and require quick and intentional thinking while caring for the critically ill (Scholtz et al, 2016 ), leading to a higher prevalence of stress for all staff, and especially for nurses (Kumar et al, 2016 ). Because patients with COVID‐19 may require mechanical ventilation, registered respiratory therapists (RRTs) likewise have been immersed in the high stress environment of the ICU along with nurses and thus face similar risks (Miller et al, 2020 ).…”