Adverse Events and Burnout

Abstract

Background: Prior research has found that adverse events have significant negative consequences for the patients (first victim) and caregivers (second victim) involved such as burnout. However, research has yet to examine the consequences of adverse events on members of caregiving units. We also lack research on the effects of the personal and job resources that shape the context of how adverse events are experienced. Objectives: We test the relationship between job demands (the number of adverse events on a hospital nursing unit) and nurses’ experience of burnout. We further explore the ways in which personal (workgroup identification) and job (safety climate) resources amplify or dampen this relationship. Specifically, we examine whether, and the conditions under which, adverse events affect nurse burnout. Research Design: Cross-sectional analyses of survey data on nurse burnout linked to hospital incident reporting system data on adverse event rates for the year before survey administration and survey data on workgroup identification and safety climate. Subjects: Six hundred three registered nurses from 30 nursing units in a large, urban hospital in the Midwest completed questionnaires. Results: Multilevel regression analysis indicated that adverse events were positively associated with nurse burnout. The effects of adverse events on nurse burnout were amplified when nurses exhibited high levels of workgroup identification and attenuated when safety climate perceptions were higher. Conclusions: Adverse events have broader negative consequences than previously thought, widely affecting nurse burnout on caregiving units, especially when nurses strongly identify with their workgroup. These effects are mitigated when leaders cultivate safety climate.

Burnout and its relationship to self‐reported quality of patient care and adverse events during COVID‐19: A cross‐sectional online survey among nurses

“…It is unclear, however, whether this was caused by a pessimistic state of mind and whether poor patient care quality and a growing number of AEs severely affected the well-being of nurses, contributing to burnout. As one study has shown, AEs could lead to nurse burnout in caregiving units (Vogus et al, 2020). Regardless of the association between nurses' burnout, quality of patient care and AEs, further studies are warranted to evaluate the generalizability of these findings covering a wide range of hospitals and to identify interventions that could reduce burnout so as to protect the health of nurses, to reduce AEs and to maintain quality of patient care.…”

“…A newly released systematic review revealed that out of 21 analysed studies, most of them show a relationship between burnout and the deterioration of patient safety (Garcia et al, 2019). Furthermore, the results of the study showed that AEs were positively related to nurse burnout in the United States (Vogus et al, 2020).…”

Care integration within and outside health system boundaries

“…Sixth, single-source bias is a concern, albeit mitigated by measuring independent and dependent variables at different organizational levels. 41,48 Seventh, our sample was limited to health systems, so we are unable to address whether levels of care integration are better or worse within systems versus nonsystems. Further research should address this question.…”

Relationship between patient safety culture and job burnout in Iranian nurses: Assessing the mediating role of second victim experience using structural equation modelling

“…Vifladt, Simonsen, Lydersen, and Farup (2016) found that safety culture is a predictor of burnout. Similarly, Vogus, Ramanujam, Novikov, Venkataramani, and Tangirala (2020) discussed that when safety culture is high, the burnout attenuates.…”