WORLD JOURNAL OF ADVANCE
HEALTHCARE RESEARCH

Shatha Hassan Ali*, Besmah Mohammed Ali Ibraheem and Salah S. A. Al-Bundi

ABSTRACT

Background: The work environment in emergency department (ED) is characterized by activities that are strenuous both physically and mentally. These can result in physical and mental exhaustion, which can lead to burnout if not adequately addressed. Burnout among healthcare professionals can negatively affect their clinical decision-making, quality of communication with patients and colleagues as well as their ability to cope with work-related pressure, and ultimately affect the quality of care and patient outcomes. Study objectives were to determine the prevalence of burnout and turnover intentions of ED,s physicians and nurses and to establish associations between them and with socio-demographic factors. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in three different tertiary hospitals in Baghdad between 20/May/2024 to 25/June/2024. The study was conducted with a total of 367 participants, including 187 physicians, 180 nurses. Questionnaire method was used in the study. The questionnaire included "Socio-demographic Characteristics Form", "Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS)" and "Turnover Intention Scale (TIS)". Chi square was used for analysis. A further post-hoc, standardized residual was applied in analysis phase to test the strength of association. The analysis of the research data was performed with SPSS 28.0 statistical program. Results: Out of the 430 distributed questionnaires, 186(51.0%) physicians and 180(49.0%) nurses participated (response rate 85.3%). Results showed high levels of burnout among EDs workers; 76.0% suffered from high emotional exhaustion EE, 52.0% from high depersonalization DP and 43.0% from low personal accomplishment PA. Total burnout was found among 82.3% of them and 46.3% intended to leave their current job. Turnover intention and being physician were significantly associated with high burnout level(p=0.001, p=0.018 successively) . Moreover being single, high monthly income and low work experience significantly associated with low burnout level (p=0.033, p=0.001, p=0.015 in order). Conclusion: Burnout is considerably prevalent among EDs? physicians and nurses. Burnout is positively associated with job turnover intention. Therefore, there is a need for control and management strategies to address occupational burnout and its negative consequences on workers, patients and organizations.

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