The Human Cost of Respiratory Care: Professional Quality of Life and Burnout Across Multidisciplinary Cystic Fibrosis Teams

Background: Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, reduced personal accomplishment, and increased depersonalization. Over one-half of physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals report substantial burnout, with consequences including decreased empathy and quality of care, increased medical errors, and increased health care costs. Team-based care, common in chronic respiratory conditions such as cystic fibrosis (CF), may be protective. Research Question: What is the risk of burnout among multidisciplinary CF care teams and does it differ by profession? Study Design and Methods: US CF health care providers received a 64-item survey including 2 standardized measures (Professional Quality of Life Scale and Maslach Burnout Inventory). Respondents (N = 569) included physicians (24.9%), advanced practice providers (APPs)/nurses (21.9%), allied health (29.4%) and mental health providers (23.8%). Results: Providers reported moderate compassion satisfaction and low personal accomplishment, with low-moderate burnout and moderate emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Significant differences were found by profession (F_3,585 = 3.77-5.07; P < .05-01): in comparison with mental health providers, physicians, APPs/nurses, and allied health providers reported lower personal accomplishment and higher burnout; physicians and allied health providers reported higher depersonalization; and physicians reported higher emotional exhaustion. Overall, women reported lower personal accomplishment than men. Hispanic providers reported higher burnout and emotional exhaustion and lower personal accomplishment. Providers working in CF ≥ 15 years reported less burnout than those working 10 to 14 years. Top contributors to burnout were the following: administrative tasks (80.0%), excessive documentation (79.4%), insufficient staffing (74.6%), insufficient time with patients (73.4%), and excessive responsibility (72.7%). One-half of mental health providers had sought professional help for burnout vs only one-third of physicians; significantly more female physicians sought help (40%) than male physicians (19%). Interpretation: Our results show that despite well-established, team-based models of pulmonary care, burnout remained substantial, with physicians at highest risk, followed by APPs/nurses and allied health providers. In addition to promoting individual well-being, systems-level initiatives are critical to support multidisciplinary teams caring for people with chronic pulmonary disease.