Burnout Among Respiratory Therapists Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: Burnout has been identified as a major challenge in health care and is significantly associated with increased medical errors and poor job satisfaction. There is scant literature focused on the respiratory therapist (RT) experience of burnout and a thorough exploration of RTs’ perception of the factors associated with burnout has not been reported. The aim of this qualitative study was to understand the factors associated with burnout as experienced by RTs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We performed a post-hoc, qualitative analysis of free text responses to a survey of 26 centers that assessed the prevalence of burnout in RTs. The analysis used an inductive approach to identify themes within the unstructured comments provided by the subjects in the context of their experiences of burnout. Three of the authors triangulated the emerged themes. The survey was declared exempt by the Duke University Medical Center Institutional Review Board.

Results: There were 220 free text responses. Five overarching themes emerged from the analysis: staffing, workload, physical/emotional consequences, lack of or ineffective leadership, and lack of respect. Subjects discussed feelings of anxiety, depression, and compassion fatigue, as well as concerns that lack of adequate staffing, high workload assignments, and inadequate support from leadership contributed to feelings of burnout. Specific instances of higher patient acuity, surge in critically ill patients, rapidly evolving changes in treatment recommendations, and minimal training and preparation for an extended scope of practice were reported as stressors that led to burnout. Some subjects stated that they felt a lack of respect for both the RT profession and the contribution of RTs to patient care.

Conclusions: Factors associated with burnout in RTs included staffing, workload, physical/emotional exhaustion, lack of or ineffective leadership, and lack of respect. These results provide targets for interventions to combat burnout among RTs.

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