H ealthy Work Environments
©2020 American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
doi:https://doi.org/10.4037/ajcc2020831
Background Burnout is a maladaptive response to work-
related stress that is associated with negative consequences
for patients, clinicians, and the health care system. Critical
care nurses are at especially high risk for burnout. Previ-
ous studies of burnout have used survey methods that
simultaneously measure risk factors and outcomes of
burnout, potentially introducing common method bias.
Objectives To evaluate the frequency of burnout and
individual and organizational characteristics associated
with burnout among critical care nurses across a national
integrated health care system using data from an annual
survey and methods that avoid common method bias.
Methods A 2017 survey of 2352 critical care nurses from
94 sites. Site-level workplace climate was assessed
using 2016 survey data from 2191 critical care nurses.
Results Overall, one-third of nurses reported burnout,
which varied significantly across sites. In multilevel anal-
ysis, workplace climate was the strongest predictor of
burnout (odds ratio [OR], 2.20; 95% CI, 1.50-3.22). Other
significant variables were overall hospital quality (OR,
1.44; 95% CI, 1.05-1.99), urban location (OR, 1.93; 95% CI,
1.09-3.42), and nurse tenure (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.44-3.10).
In secondary multivariable analyses, workplace climate
subthemes of perceptions of workload and staffing, super-
visors and senior leadership, culture of teamwork, and
patient experience were each significantly associated
with burnout.
Conclusions Drivers of burnout are varied, yet interven-
tions frequently target only the individual. Results of this
study suggest that in efforts to reduce burnout, emphasis
should be placed on improving local workplace climate.
(American Journal of Critical Care. 2020;29:380-389)
I MPACT OF WORKPLACE
CLIMATE ON BURNOUT
AMONG CRITICAL CARE
NURSES IN THE VETERANS
HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
By Lakshmana Swamy, MD, MBA, David Mohr, PhD, Amanda Blok, PhD,
MSN, PHCNS-BC, Ekaterina Anderson, PhD, Martin Charns, DBA, Renda
Soylemez Wiener, MD, MPH, and Seppo Rinne, MD, PhD
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380 AJCC AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE, September 2020, Volume 29, No. 5 www.ajcconline.org
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