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
. 2024 Sep 17;13(18):e034527.
doi: 10.1161/JAHA.123.034527. Epub 2024 Sep 11.

Work Environment, Burnout, and Intent to Leave Current Job Among Cardiologists and Cardiology Health Care Workers: Results From the National Coping With COVID Survey

Sanjoyita Mallick  1 , Pamela S Douglas  2 , Gautam R Shroff  1 , Rehan Karim  1 , Erin Sullivan  3 , Christine Sinsky  4 , Nancy Nankivil  4 , Purva Shah  4 , Roger Brown  5 , Mark Linzer  1
Affiliations

Work Environment, Burnout, and Intent to Leave Current Job Among Cardiologists and Cardiology Health Care Workers: Results From the National Coping With COVID Survey

Sanjoyita Mallick et al. J Am Heart Assoc. .

Abstract

Background: Little is known about factors contributing to burnout and intent to leave in cardiologists and other cardiology health care workers.

Methods and results: The Coping With COVID survey assessed work conditions, burnout, and intent to leave among physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, and other clinical staff (OCS) from April 2020 to December 2020. Single-item measures assessed work conditions, burnout (emotional exhaustion), and intent to leave. Multilevel logistic regression examined work life variables' relationships to burnout among role types and feeling valued as a mediator. Open-ended comments analyzed via grounded theory contributed to a conceptual model. Coping With COVID was completed by 1199 US cardiology health care workers (354 physician/520 nurses/198 advanced practice providers/127 OCS). Nurses were most likely to report burnout (59% nurses, 57% OCS, 46% advanced practice providers, 40% physicians, P<0.0001). Workload correlated with burnout in all groups (adjusted odds ratios [aORs], 4.1-17.4; Ps<0.005), whereas anxiety/depression related to burnout in all except OCS (aORs, 3.9-8.3; Ps≤0.001). Feeling valued was related to lower burnout in most groups. Intent to leave was common (23%-45%) and was lower in physicians and advanced practice providers who felt valued (aORs, 0.26 and 0.22, respectively; Ps<0.05). Burnout was highest for nurses in practice 16 to 20 years, and intent to leave was highest for OCS in practice 16 to 20 years. Themes contributing to burnout included personal and patient safety, leadership, and financial issues.

Conclusions: Burnout was prevalent among cardiology health care workers and highest in nurses and OCS. Addressing factors associated with burnout in different role types may improve work life sustainability for all cardiology health care workers.

Keywords: burnout; nurses; physicians; work conditions; work life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Mediation model for burnout in physicians.
Potentially associated variables are on the left. Paths are statistically significant logits.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Mediation model for burnout in nurses.
Potentially associated variables are on the left. Paths are statistically significant logits.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Mediation model for burnout in advanced practice providers.
Potentially associated variables are on the left. Paths are statistically significant logits.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Mediation model for burnout in other clinical staff.
Potentially associated variables are on the left. Paths are statistically significant logits.
Figure 5
Figure 5. General conceptual model of work life and outcomes in cardiology.
Model linking demographic and work life variables to outcomes through a mediator, feeling valued. Note the relationships of these variables vary in their intensity and importance by role type (physician, nurse, advanced practice provider, and other clinical staff). Sex was not addressed due to sex imbalance within role types and small samples of specific sexes within each group. Percent of variance explained by quantitative variables within the model in multivariable regressions was 45% to 55% for burnout (Table S1). Leadership, safety and financial concerns were added in qualitative analyses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Feature . ACC Survey: Burnout Rates Double for Cardiology Clinicians Amid Covid‐19. American College of Cardiology; 2021. Accessed Jan 17, 2024. www.acc.org/Latest‐in‐Cardiology/Articles/2021/06/01/01/42/Feature‐ACC‐S...
    1. Mehta LS, Lewis SJ, Duvernoy CS, Rzeszut AK, Walsh MN, Harrington RA, Poppas A, Linzer M, Binkley PF, Douglas PS. Burnout and career satisfaction among US cardiologists. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019;73:3345–3348. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2019.04.031 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Walsh MN, Arrighi JA, Cacchione JG, Chamis AL, Douglas PS, Duvernoy CS, Foody JM, Hayes SN, Itchhaporia D, Parmacek MS, et al. 2022 ACC health policy statement on career flexibility in cardiology: a report of the American College of Cardiology Solution Set Oversight Committee. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022;80:2135–2155. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2022.08.748 - DOI - PubMed
    1. York M, Douglas PS, Damp JB, Fraiche AM, Gillam LD, Hayes SN, Rzeszut AK, Sulistio MS, Wood MJ. Professional preferences and perceptions of cardiology among internal medicine residents: temporal trends over the past decade. JAMA Cardiol. 2022;7:1253–1258. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2022.3485 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cullen M, Damp J, Soukoulis V, Keating FK, Abudayyeh I, Auseon A, Bhakta D, Qasim A, Seryak A, Smith SA. Burnout and well‐being among cardiology fellowship program directors. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2021;78:1717–1726. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.08.034 - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources