Assessing and Managing Prevalence of Burnout in Inpatient Occupational and Physical Therapists in an Acute Care Setting

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess prevalence of burnout and introduce strategies to prevent and mitigate burnout within the inpatient rehabilitation department at an academic medical center. Review of Literature: An extensive literature review regarding assessment and management of burnout in the acute care setting revealed limited research among acute care occupational therapists and physical therapists. Subjects: A convenience sample was obtained from the inpatient rehabilitation department at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, consisting of 37 full-time (≥30 h/wk) occupational therapists and physical therapists. Methods: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and Areas of Work Life Survey (AWS) questionnaires were distributed to staff in April 2022 to assess initial levels of burnout within the department. Based on these results, researchers implemented interventions over a 3-month period (May-July 2022) including Reiki, mindfulness sessions, staff recognition, recommendations for departmental improvement, managerial office hours, and abbreviated staff meetings. Surveys were readministered in July 2022 to assess the impact of the interventions. Results: Based on the initial results of the MBI, 47% of respondents were categorized as burnt out. Postintervention, researchers observed reduced emotional exhaustion scores and improvement in both depersonalization and personal accomplishment scores, all indicating reduced levels of burnout based on results from the MBI. Based on initial AWS results, areas of work life most negatively impacted included reward, workload, and fairness. Postintervention AWS results showed improvement in all 6 categories. Discussion and Conclusion: Staff reported a reduction in burnout following the 3-month intervention period. It is recommended that future studies provide more frequent interventions over a longer duration to observe effects of interventions on reported burnout.