Assessment of burnout among emergency medicine healthcare workers in a teaching hospital in Malaysia during COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: Burnout is a syndrome occurring from an overwhelming workplace stress. The study was done at a large teaching hospital identified as a COVID-19 treating hospital. During COVID-19 pandemic, the country was in Movement Control Order since 18 March 2020 to contain the spread of the virus, and thus, it has increased the job workload and responsibility. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of burnout among emergency healthcare worker in this hospital and to identify the factors contributed to the burnout. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire among emergency healthcare worker from 8 May 2020 to 15 May 2020 during the Conditional Movement Control Order. The questionnaire was adapted from Michelle Post, Public Welfare, Vol. 39, No. 1, 1981, American Public Welfare Association and distributed via Google Forms. It consisted of 28 questions and was rated based on a five-point Likert-type scale. The questions were then summed up to determine the burnout levels. Results: There were 216 respondents with 65.7% were nurses, 17.1% were doctors, and the rest were assistant medical officer. 51.3% of the respondents had burnout with 61.2% of nurses, 35.1% of doctors, and 29.6% of assistant medical officer. There was weak correlation (r = 0.148) with the years of experience working in emergency department and the level of burnout (p = 0.03). Among the burnout features were fatigue with 52.2% and frequent physical illness and feel unappreciated with 48.6% and 45.9%, respectively. The job-related issues which predisposed to burnout were demand coping with an angry public with 70.2%, job overload 63.9%, lack clear guideline or rapid program changes 54%, and pay too little 53.1%. Conclusion: Emergency healthcare worker has a high rate of burnout especially among the nurses. The factors leading to burnout were frequent exposure to angry public, job overload, lack of clear guidelines, and perception of underpaid.