Factors Contributing to Clinician Burnout and Professional Well-Being

Course overview

Course Description: This course is based on material published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and is available as an open-access article. This chapter describes the potentially modifiable contributory factors for which there is evidence supporting either a direct association or a strong indirect relationship with clinician burnout. The chapter first elaborates on the relationships between the factors that contribute to burnout and the committee's systems model for burnout and professional well-being (see Chapter 2). The second section discusses the evidence for contributory factors, starting with work system factors related to the demands and resources of a clinician's job, followed by the individual (clinician) factors that mediate burnout. Many of these contributory factors are under the control of the healthcare organization, which largely decides how work will be performed. In addition to the direct negative impact of high job demands and low job resources on burnout, the job demands-resources model suggests that job resources can offset the adverse effects of increased job demands (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007, 2017; Demerouti et al., 2001). Systems approach and interventions that address the contributory factors described in this chapter are discussed in detail in Chapter 5. This course on factors associated with clinician burnout is designed for clinical social workers, psychologists, professional counselors, nurses, and substance abuse counselors who do clinical work. This course is appropriate for intermediate and advanced-level practitioners who wish to develop their expertise with factors associated with clinician burnout. The course material includes a literature review of research. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require continuing clinical education courses for license renewal. The course is based on a journal article that includes research. It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. A significant benefit of reading peer-reviewed research-based articles for continuing education is that they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field. Authors: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information regarding factors associated with clinician burnout. Specifically, a professional will: Recognize the role of job demands in regard to clinician burnout. Identify job resources that may contribute to or protect against burnout. Describe individual factors mediating burnout and professional well-being. Citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; National Academy of Medicine; Committee on Systems Approaches to Improve Patient Care by Supporting Clinician Well-Being. (2019). Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being. National Academies Press (US).