News: Report highlights clinician burnout at Magnet hospitals and dissatisfaction with management

A new study of 15,738 nurses and 5,312 physicians conducted by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Health Forum suggests that physicians and nurses practicing in United States Magnet hospitals have too few nurses, unfavorable working environments, and higher rates of clinician burnout, according to HealthLeaders.

The report especially noted that most clinicians lacked confidence in management to resolve clinical care issues and wished that management would focus on improvements to staffing and work environments, versus clinician wellness and resilience programs.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• An average of one-third of physician respondents and one-half of nurse respondents reported experiencing high burnout.
• More than one of every five physicians reported that they would leave their current hospital within a year if possible.
• More than four in 10 physicians and five in 10 nurses reported a great deal of stress because of their job.
• Approximately 12% of physicians and 26% of nurses gave their hospital an unfavorable patient safety grade.
• 28% of physicians and more than half of nurses reported that there were too few nurses.
• One-third of both physicians and nurses reported poor control over their workloads, and 39% of physicians and 63% of nurses reported a chaotic work environment.
• Approximately 42% of physicians and 47% of nurses reported lacking confidence that hospital management would resolve problems in patient care that clinicians identify.
• Close to one-third of physicians and half of nurses reported that the administration did not listen or respond to clinicians’ concerns.

The study noted that the “substantial stress” physicians and nurses are under “threatens the retention and vitality of the hospital workforce and patient safety,” and concluded by advocating for improvements in “nursing staffing and working conditions” in order to “address burnout and job dissatisfaction.”

Editor’s note: To read the HealthLeaders article, click here. To read the JAMA Health Forum report, click here. To read more ACDIS coverage related to burnout, click here.