Quality of Life and Working Conditions of Hand Surgeons—A National Survey

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Providing high-quality care for patients in hand surgery is an everyday endeavor. However, the quality of life (QoL) and working conditions of hand surgeons ensuring these high-quality services need to be investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the QoL and working conditions of Swiss hand surgeons. Materials and Methods: A national survey with Swiss hand surgeons was conducted. Standardized questionnaires were completed anonymously online. Core topics included working conditions, QoL, satisfaction with the profession, and aspects of private life. Results: A total of 250 hand surgeons were invited to participate, of which 110 (44.0%) completed the questionnaire. Among all participants, 43.6% stated that they are on call 4–7 days per month, versus 8.2% never being on call. Overall, 84.0% of the residents, 50.0% of the senior physicians, 27.6% of the physicians in leading positions, and 40.6% of the senior consultants/practice owners, as well as 55.1% of the female and 44.3% of the male respondents, felt stressed by their job, even during holidays and leisure time. Out of all participants, 85.4% felt that work affects private relationships negatively. Despite the reported stress, 89.1% would choose hand surgery as a profession again. Less on-call duty (29.1%) and better pay (26.4%) are the most prioritized factors for attractiveness of a position at a hospital. Conclusions: The QoL of Swiss hand surgeons is negatively affected by their workload and working hours. Residents, senior physicians and female surgeons suffer significantly more often from depression, burnout or chronic fatigue in comparison to leading positions, senior consultants/practice owners and male surgeons. Better pay or less on-call duty would make the work more attractive in acute care hospitals.

Burnout in Surgeons from a Tertiary Public University Hospital

“…was associated with higher burnout levels in the MBI-HSS PA dimension. Interestingly, yet, a direct association between higher burnout levels and full-time staff activity was detected by others [17]. Further analysis of this antagonism cannot be contemplated in the present investigation.…”

“…The academic work environment characteristics of our center may provide for sex-independent knowledge updates and personal scientific progress and consequently attenuate burnout risk. It is also possible that the low BS prevalence rate observed in our study may be a surrogate of the male sex predominance (91% men, Table 3) for it is known that female doctors show significantly lower professional satisfaction as compared to men (77% vs 82%), usually face additional conflicts between the exercise of the profession and the conduction of the household, being more likely responsible for childcare planning, grocery shopping and meal and holidays planning, and present a substantially higher divorce prevalence rate [14][15][16][17]. Whether or not our small BS prevalence rate resulted from our surgeons tending to move away from maladaptive coping, and developing various strategies to deal with burnout, namely: cognitive restructuring; seeking social support; stepping aside or down from the job; and prioritizing personal health [7] remains unknown.…”