Burnout is a growing problem among medical professionals. It is defined by emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and low personal achievement (PA), and triggered by mismatch between the personal values and the workplace demands. Burnout has not previously been examined among the NCS.

The electronic survey distributed to members of the NCS included personal and professional questions and the Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (Medical Personnel) (MBI). This validated measure assesses for EE, DP, and PA. These subscales are scored as high, moderate, or low. Categorical variables were compared using Chi-square and continuous variables using T-tests. Then, a multivariable logistic regression model was made.

A total of 204/248 participants completed the questionnaire; 84% were burned out by MBI criteria. A high/moderate score on EE was present in (150/ 204), a high/moderate score on DP was present in (122/204), and a low/moderate score on PA was present in (123/ 204). Feeling burned out in the past and feeling currently burned out were associated with burnout, p<0.05. Burnout was higher among respondents early in practice (currently-training/post-training 0-5 years) than post-training 21 or more years. On multivariable logistic regression, participants who felt burned out in the past had 3-fold higher odds ratio of current burnout, p<0.01, and those early in practice (currently-training/post-training 0-5 years) and post-training 6-10 years had 3.5-fold and 6.3-fold higher odds ratio of burnout respectively, p<0.05.

Our study is the first to characterize burnout amongst a cross-section of physicians, pharmacists, nurses and practitioners in the NCS. A call to action and commitment by the hospital, organizational and governmental leaders, and society is essential to ameliorate burnout.