Healthcare worker burnout: rethinking the maslach burnout inventory

Burnout is a devastating consequence of an adverse work environment. Eliminating burnout will require a better understanding of its components and predictors. A sample of 228 healthcare workers (HCWs) in the United States responded to a burnout survey during the pandemic; 175 (77%) answered the query, 'How do you define burnout?', which sought to determine what burnout meant to them. After a formal qualitative analysis, we found that numerous comments (78%) did not fall within one of the classic three categories of burnout noted in the Maslach Burnout Inventory (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, or lack of sense of personal accomplishment). These 'non-concordant' comments included varied work conditions (known and not well-known burnout predictors), mental health symptoms, physical symptoms, feelings, and important burnout consequences. We propose the Maslach Burnout Inventory may portray only a modest proportion of what HCWs consider to be 'burnout'; further studies are needed to confirm and extend these findings.