Workplace wellbeing in an urban emergency department in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Objectives: Staff wellbeing is important for individuals and considered integral to the development and maintenance of high performing health systems. Unless baseline parameters of wellbeing are known, the effects of any interventions to improve staff wellbeing will remain uncertain. By clarifying staff perceptions and objective measures of important factors related to wellbeing, our primary goal was to assess the baseline wellbeing of staff in our central city ED.

Methods: A survey template, the WoWe@AED (Workplace Wellbeing at the Adult Emergency Department) was developed from several sources. Burnout was measured using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Inclusion in the survey required that participants worked in our ED, all staff groups were eligible. The electronic survey was conducted between 22 January and 5 February 2018. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed.

Results: Two hundred and seventy (71.1%) of 380 potential participants participated. All staff groups were represented. About 72.4% agreed/strongly agreed that Adult Emergency Department was an excellent place to work, 80.7% found their work meaningful. About 42.0% felt well informed regarding important decisions. One hundred and eighty-three (48.2%) out of 380 completed the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Overall, personal burnout was 42.1% (n = 77), work-related burnout was 35% (n = 64) and client-related burnout was 27.9% (n = 51). Females were significantly (<0.05) more likely to have burnout in some or all domains. Four key themes were identified: supportive teamwork and relationships; providing high quality patient care; resourcing; and workload issues.

Conclusions: Baseline indices of wellbeing of the frontline staff in a central city ED have been documented. These have informed wellbeing interventions. Future measures can be compared against these data.

Keywords: burnout; emergency service; hospital; quality; wellbeing.