Examining the rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout among providers at a regional burn center

Burnout, defined by feelings of inefficacy, cynicism, and emotional exhaustion, affects the performance and well-being of health care providers. Burn care exposes providers to factors known to cause or worsen burnout, but no research has presented prevalence rates of burnout in this population. We estimate the rates of anxiety, depression, and burnout among nonphysician providers in a regional burn center and compare those rates to a reference population of critical care nurses. In our sample of 22 providers, 64% screened positive for anxiety; 32% for depression; 82% for emotional exhaustion; 18% for personal achievement burnout; and 54% for depersonalization. When compared with a national sample of critical care nurses, burn center providers demonstrated a significantly higher rate of anxiety (risk difference [RD]: 0.453, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.244, 0.622]), a significantly higher rate of emotional exhaustion (RD: 0.207, 95% CI [0.001, 0.323]), and a significantly lower rate of personal achievement burnout (RD: -0.325, 95% CI [-0.442, -0.119]). These findings constitute the first evidence that many burn care providers meet criteria for burnout and that burnout in burn care providers may qualitatively differ from burnout in other critical care providers. Future research should identify burn care-specific predictors of burnout and determine the feasibility and efficacy of interventions to prevent and reduce burnout in burn care providers.