The Human Cost of Respiratory Care: Professional Quality of Life and Burnout across Multidisciplinary Cystic Fibrosis Teams.

Abstract

Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment, and increased depersonalization. Over half of physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals report substantial burnout, with consequences including decreased empathy and quality of care, increased medical errors and healthcare costs. Team-based care, common in chronic respiratory conditions such as cystic fibrosis (CF), may be protective. What is the risk of burnout among multidisciplinary CF care teams and does it differ by profession? US CF healthcare providers received an 64-item survey including two standardized measures (ProQOL, Maslach Burnout Inventory). Respondents (N=569) included physicians (24.9%), advanced practice providers (APPs)/nurses (21.9%), allied health (29.4%) and mental health providers (23.8%). Providers reported moderate Compassion Satisfaction and low Personal Accomplishment, with low-moderate burnout and moderate Emotional Exhaustion and Depersonalization. Significant differences were found by profession [F's (3, 585) 3.77-5.07, p's <.05-01]: in comparison to mental health providers, physicians, APPs/nurses, and allied health providers reported lower Personal Accomplishment and higher Burnout; physicians and allied health providers reported higher Depersonalization; physicians reported higher Emotional Exhaustion. Overall, women reported lower Personal Accomplishment than men. Hispanic providers reported higher Burnout and Emotional Exhaustion, and lower Personal Accomplishment. Providers working in CF ≥15 years reported less burnout than those working 10-14 years. Top contributors to burnout were: administrative tasks (80.0%), excessive documentation (79.4%), insufficient staffing (74.6%), insufficient time with patients (73.4%), and excessive responsibility (72.7%). Half of mental health providers had sought professional help for burnout vs. only one-third of physicians; significantly more female physicians sought help (40%) than males (19%). Despite well-established, team-based models of pulmonary care, burnout remained substantial, with physicians at highest risk, followed by APPs/nurses and allied health providers. In addition to promoting individual well-being, systems-level initiatives are critical to support multidisciplinary teams caring for people with chronic pulmonary disease.