Assessing Burnout and Resilience in Advanced Practice Clinicians

Abstract

Burnout is a work-related phenomenon consisting of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and dissatisfaction with personal accomplishments (PA). Nurse practitioners (NP) experiencing increased burnout were at risk of leaving the healthcare industry. Previous research demonstrated resilience had been associated with decreased burnout, and mindfulness had proven to improve resilience, regardless of the type of intervention. However, few studies utilized a virtual program to assess the impact of mindfulness on resilience and burnout. Data was collected on burnout and resilience prior to the project, at the midpoint, and after the project was completed. Participants were sent bi-weekly mindfulness activities along with daily reminders to practice mindfulness during their day. The means of burnout and resilience scores from pre-project, mid-project, and post-project were compared. Resilience and PA scores improved steadily through the project. EE and DP scores worsened at the midpoint, but began improving during the second half of the project. Mindfulness interventions provided virtually demonstrated an improvement in resilience and PA, while EE and DP improved as resilience scores increased. Although EE and DP did not return to pre-project levels, a longer project duration may have continued the trend of improvement.