Contributors to Faculty Wellness in an Academic Emergency Department Before and During the Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

Authors

Nicholas D. Hartman, Wake Forest University School of MedicineFollow
Casey Glass, Wake Forest University School of MedicineFollow
Manoj Pariyadath, Wake Forest University School of MedicineFollow
Kathleen Hosmer, Wake Forest University School of MedicineFollow
Meagan Hunt, Wake Forest University School of MedicineFollow
Nicklaus Ashburn, Wake Forest University School of MedicineFollow
Cedric Lefebvre, Wake Forest University School of MedicineFollow

Funder

The authors received no specific funding for this work.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare for this work.

Abstract

Introduction: Burnout is well known as a prevalent hazard in emergency medicine (EM) careers, but the literature is less clear about what specific work-related factors actually contribute to wellness and burnout among academic EM faculty.

Objectives: 1) To explore themes and specific concerns that contribute to faculty wellness in an academic emergency department, in a qualitative fashion. 2) To determine whether these themes and concerns changed appreciably in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: EM faculty members at an academic institution were invited to participate in the study, including an on-line survey and a structured interview. Survey results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, interviews were coded and analyzed in qualitative fashion with frequency of themes as the primary outcome.

Results: 33 of 40 EM faculty members at one institution participated in interviews with the study team. Twenty-four returned Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Areas of Worklife surveys, with 5 of the 24 registering as burned out by standard definitions. In qualitative analysis of the interviews, the most common negative themes were psychological stress, balancing work and family life, negative perceptions of non-departmental administration and certain aspects of clinical work. The most common positive themes included positive views of departmental leadership, teamwork among colleagues, trainees and others, and self-worth derived from doing the work of EM. Themes before and during the COVID-19 pandemic were similar, with an increase in positive comments related to patient care during the COVID-era (p = 0.02).

Conclusion: Among one group of EM faculty, positive drivers of wellness were primarily relational in nature, including working in teams to care for patients and carry out the various missions of academic EM. Negative drivers were consistent with previous work in burnout among medical professionals, to include stress, tensions between work and family obligations, and conflicts in the care and work environments.

DOI

10.55504/2578-9333.1198

Recommended Citation

Hartman, Nicholas D.; Glass, Casey; Pariyadath, Manoj; Hosmer, Kathleen; Hunt, Meagan; Ashburn, Nicklaus; and Lefebvre, Cedric (2024) "Contributors to Faculty Wellness in an Academic Emergency Department Before and During the Pandemic: A Qualitative Study," Journal of Wellness: Vol. 5 : Iss. 2 , Article 9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55504/2578-9333.1198
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jwellness/vol5/iss2/9