Assessing Burnout and Resiliency Among Nurse Practitioners
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Abstract
The topic of burnout among medical doctors (MDs) has depicted a strong correlation to MD education and career with burnout, ultimately causing negative psychological and physical outcomes. Research has shown that resilience is a concept that has often been associated with MD ability to respond to stress and decrease burnout. Beyond MDs, the population of nurse practitioners (NPs) has been minimally researched in relation to burnout. NPs are at heightened risk of burnout, comparable to MDs, in relation to rigorous education requirements, large workloads, long work hours, rising demands of documentation, and increased technological advances within health care. The purpose of this PIP was to explore the prevalence of burnout and resiliency in correlation with demographic risk factors in practicing NPs who attended the NDNPA conference in fall 2020 in order to initiate education and practice recommendations. Survey questions regarding coping mechanisms, demographic risk factors, and validated tools for resilience and burnout were administered to practicing NPs during the virtual conference. Forty-four NPs completed the survey. Scores reflected moderate to high levels of burnout within the sample. Resilience was mildly below the national average. Lower burnout among those working in team settings was found to be statistically significant. NPs working on productivity-based pay had the highest levels of resilience. Participants who utilized more coping mechanisms had higher resilience scores. Data did not find a significant relationship between burnout and resilience. Study findings support the recommendation for larger, longitudinal research, perhaps more focused on burnout and organizational influence(s) to better understand the topic. The findings from this study are supportive of recent literature regarding MDs, which suggests that resilience is not the sole answer to addressing burnout. Other recommendations include NPs reviewing the newest research on burnout and the psychological impact certain specialties can entail. Healthcare organizations can consider increasing team-based work environments, as well as advising NPs to apply to team-based positions. Using multiple coping mechanisms is suggested to develop higher levels of resilience, as the concept of resilience likely remains a beneficial quality.