Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Feb 18:2019:4515972.
doi: 10.1155/2019/4515972. eCollection 2019.

Burnout Syndrome among Emergency Physicians and Nurses in Abha and Khamis Mushait Cities, Aseer Region, Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Abdulghani M Alqahtani  1 , Nabil J Awadalla  2 , Safar A Alsaleem  3 , Awad S Alsamghan  2 , Mohammed Abadi Alsaleem  2
Affiliations

Burnout Syndrome among Emergency Physicians and Nurses in Abha and Khamis Mushait Cities, Aseer Region, Southwestern Saudi Arabia

Abdulghani M Alqahtani et al. ScientificWorldJournal. .

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the magnitude and determinants of burnout among emergency physicians and nurses working at emergency departments of hospitals in Abha and Khamis Mushait cities.

Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted in emergency departments of hospitals in Abha and Khamis Mushait cities belonging to Ministry of Health. All physicians (n=95) and nurses (n=187) currently working at these sites were invited to participate in the study by filling a validated self-administered questionnaire including two main sections: personal and professional characteristics of physicians and nurses as well as Maslach burnout inventory (MBI) to assess the three components of the burnout syndrome: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment.

Results: The study included 282 physicians and nurses. The age of more than half of them (54.3%) ranged between 31 and 35 years. Most of them (70.9%) were females. About two-thirds of the respondents (66.3%) were nurses while the remaining 33.7% were physicians. Majority of the emergency healthcare professionals (88.7%) had high emotional exhaustion. The prevalence of high depersonalization (cynicism) was 20.6% whereas that of low personal accomplishment was 41.1% among emergency healthcare professionals. The overall prevalence of burnout among healthcare professionals was 16.3%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that male healthcare professionals were at almost higher three-folded risk for developing burnout compared to females (aOR=2.76; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21-6.28, p=0.017)). Smokers were at higher significant risk for burnout compared to nonsmokers (aOR=15.37; 95% CI: 7.06-33.45, p<0.001). Healthcare professionals who reported a history of taking medications for sleep disorders expressed higher risk for burnout opposed to those with no history of sleep disorder medication (aOR=6.59; 95% CI: 2.08-20.81, p=0.001).

Conclusion: A considerable proportion of physicians and nurses working at emergency departments of hospitals in Abha and Khamis Mushait cities had burnout syndrome, particularly high emotional exhaustion and low personal accomplishment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Smoking history of the emergency department physicians and nurses.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Medication history among emergency department physicians and nurses. Work-related characteristics of the participants.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Prevalence of high emotional exhaustion among emergency department physicians and nurses.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Prevalence of high depersonalization (cynicism) among emergency department physicians and nurses.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Prevalence of low personal accomplishment among emergency department physicians and nurses.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Prevalence of burnout among emergency department physicians and nurses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bailey C., Murphy R., Porock D. Professional tears: developing emotional intelligence around death and dying in emergency work. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 2011;20(23-24):3364–3372. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2011.03860.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bragard I., Dupuis G., Fleet R. Quality of work life, burnout, and stress in emergency department physicians. European Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2015;22:227–234. - PubMed
    1. Maslach C., Jackson S. E., Leiter M. P. Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual, Mind garden.com. 3rd. California, Calif, USA: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc.; 1996.
    1. Embriaco N., Papazian L., Kentish-Barnes N., Pochard F., Azoulay E. Burnout syndrome among critical care healthcare workers. Current Opinion in Critical Care. 2007;13(5):482–488. doi: 10.1097/MCC.0b013e3282efd28a. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Maslach C., Leiter M. P. Early predictors of job burnout and engagement. Journal of Applied Psychology. 2008;93(3):498–512. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.93.3.498. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources