Seventy-two percent of healthcare workers and physicians are satisfied with their current job, according to data from the American Medical Association’s 2022 National Burnout Benchmarking report. That represents a 4% decrease from a year ago.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic came an extraordinary amount of stress for physicians and other health professionals,” AMA staff writer Sara Berg wrote.
The data cover burnout, stress and job satisfaction from January 2020 to December 2021. The report, updated annually, also looks at other key drivers of burnout that have emerged during the pandemic. Some 11,000 physicians and other health professionals from 100 institutions completed 100 surveys for the study.
“Overall, 52% of respondents were experiencing a great deal of stress. This is also a 4% increase from our previous benchmark,” said Kyra Cappelucci Ng, a program manager for AMA Practice Transformation.
More than half of respondents said they are experiencing burnout, which is a 4% increase compared with the previous benchmark. Burnout was reported most (58%) among respondents who have worked in their field for six to 10 years. Job-related stress was almost 11% higher in female respondents than male respondents.
The findings align with a survey released in December by staffing firm Cross Country Healthcare, which found that fully two-thirds of nurses are considering leaving the profession.
According to Cross Country Healthcare, the biggest pain point: job satisfaction. Just 32% of nurses surveyed at that time said they are very satisfied with their occupation, compared with 52% who said the same before the pandemic, according to the survey. The nursing shortage and inadequate staffing levels top the list of contributors to the low satisfaction rate. In addition, almost 37% of nurses identified as being burned out, stressed and/or overworked.
A little appreciation goes a long way, according to AMA survey respondents. The data show that employees who feel valued are less likely (60%) to experience burnout or depression and therefore are less likely to quit.
“A lot of times this can serve as a kind of drop-the-mic moment for organizations doing survey work to see that so many people may not feel valued by the organization,” Ng said. This is “a really good opportunity for organizations to find some low-hanging-fruit strategies to help people feel valued.”
