Abstract
According to the World Health Organization, burnout is described as having a negative
attitude regarding one's work and being exhausted. Previous studies have shown that
occupational burnout exists amongst medical dosimetrists, however, the incidence of
medical dosimetrist burnout before and after a pandemic warrant continued research.
Medical dosimetrists could be experiencing increased burnout in the workplace postpandemic
due to staffing shortages and increased remote planning, which may reduce work performance.
The researchers utilized a survey to answer research questions regarding whether staffing
shortages or remote planning influenced perceived occupational burnout among medical
dosimetrists in a post COVID-19 pandemic environment. The survey was intended to assess
levels of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal accomplishment
(PA). It was distributed electronically to 2591 certified medical dosimetrists in
the United States through the American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (AAMD)
membership database. A total of 160 responses were recorded, resulting in a response
rate of 6% (160/2591). The results of this study indicated that increased staffing
shortages have a direct relationship with increased burnout incidence. Increased remote
work appears to be inversely related to the incidence of burnout among medical dosimetrists.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Medical DosimetryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The incidence of burnout or compassion fatigue in medical dosimetrists as a function of various stress and psychologic factors.Med. Dosim. 2013; 38: 88-94https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2012.07.006
- Understanding the intersection of working from home and burnout to optimize post-covid19 work arrangements in radiation oncology.Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 2020; 108: 370-373https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2020.06.062
- Perceived stress, work-related burnout, and working from home before and during covid-19: an examination of workers in the United States.SAGE Open. 2021; 11: 1-12https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211058193
- Researchers working from home: benefits and challenges.PLOS One. 2021; 16e0249127https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249127
American Association of Medical Dosimetrists: Medical dosimetry workforce study Available at: https://pubs.medicaldosimetry.org/pub/6C754B84-E1AA-DDA9-1C85-2F6282AEA009. Updated June 21, 2021. Accessed April 12, 2022.
- Impact of COVID-19 on healthcare labor market in the United States: lower paid workers experienced higher vulnerability and slower recovery.Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 2021; 18: 3894https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18083894
- Development and execution of a pandemic preparedness plan: therapeutic medical physics and radiation dosimetry during the COVID-19 crisis.J. Appl. Clin. Med. Phys. 2020; 21: 259-265https://doi.org/10.1002/acm2.12971
- Impact of COVID-19 on cancer care: how the pandemic is delaying cancer diagnosis and treatment for American seniors.JCO. Clin. Cancer Inform. 2020; 4: 1059-1071https://doi.org/10.1200/cci.20.00134
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patient-reported outcomes of breast cancer patients and survivors.JNCI. Cancer Spectr. 2021; 5 (pkaa104)https://doi.org/10.1093/jncics/pkaa104
- Evaluating stress, burnout and job satisfaction in New Zealand radiation oncology departments.Eur. J. Cancer Care. 2014; 23: 82-88https://doi.org/10.1111/ecc.12098
- The measurement of experienced burnout.J. Occup. Behav. 1981; 2: 99-113
- The prevalence and cause(s) of burnout among Applied Psychologists: A systematic review.Front. Psychol. 2018; 9https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01897
- Predictors of burnout among military mental health providers.Mil. Med. 2011; 176: 253-260https://doi.org/10.7205/MILMED-D-10-00269
- The impact of sars-cov-2 on the mental health of healthcare workers in a hospital setting—a systematic review.J. Occup. Health. 2020; 62: 1-16https://doi.org/10.1002/1348-9585.12175
Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 10, 2023
Accepted:
January 10,
2023
Received:
December 15,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Association of Medical Dosimetrists.
