SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Assessing Burnout in Healthcare Teams Impacted by the Covid Pandemic

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This quality improvement project assessed burnout among healthcare providers and internal medicine residents at Englewood Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic using the Mayo Clinic Well-Being Index (WBI), a validated burnout screening tool. Burnout is described as involving emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low professional accomplishment, and is associated with poor provider well-being, medical errors, turnover, and worse patient care.<br /><br />In November 2021, the WBI was administered to emergency department staff, ICU staff, hospitalists, and internal medicine residents considered at highest risk for pandemic-related burnout. Overall, hospital providers had better WBI scores than national physician benchmarks, but residents had worse scores than the national resident average, prompting a focused intervention on trainees.<br /><br />The project aim was to improve the residents’ mean WBI score to 2.5 by May 2022. Interventions included resident focus groups to identify common stressors, wellness events such as birthday celebrations, Diversity Day, social gatherings, and community outreach, and a structured wellness curriculum featuring the LIFE curriculum, ACGME podcasts, commensality groups, and wellness SMART goals.<br /><br />Key themes from focus groups included feeling depressed or irritable, feeling burnt out, work being hardening, and tasks piling up. After the intervention, resident WBI scores improved significantly from 3.89 pre-intervention to 2.85 post-intervention (p = 0.02), though they did not fully reach the target goal.<br /><br />The authors conclude that burnout is a major systems-level issue affecting both healthcare workers and patients, and that routine measurement plus targeted wellness interventions—especially for residents—can improve well-being. They emphasize that organizations should invest in burnout prevention strategies and recognize burnout as largely driven by system factors rather than individual weakness.

Asset Subtitle

Jodi-Ann S. Smith

Meta Tag

Author List Ahmad Alqam, Alexandra Gottdiener, Jodi-Ann S. Smith, Michael Basir

Category Research

Concept Burnout

Concept Well-being Index

Concept Emotional Exhaustion

Concept Depersonalization

Concept Reduced Sense of Accomplishment

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Englewood Hospital

Presenting Author Jodi-Ann S. Smith

Track Quality Improvement

Keywords

burnout

healthcare providers

internal medicine residents

COVID-19 pandemic

Mayo Clinic Well-Being Index

wellness interventions

resident wellness

focus groups

well-being

Englewood Hospital

Burnout

Well-being Index

Emotional Exhaustion

Depersonalization

Reduced Sense of Accomplishment