Burnout, Organizational Justice, Workload, and Emotional Regulation among Medical and Non-Medical Personnel Working in Romanian Healthcare Units.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The goal of this study was to evaluate the levels of organizational justice, emotional regulation, and workload associated with the level of burnout experienced in medical and non-medical staff from public and private medical units.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 230 healthcare professionals, including 139 medical personnel and 91 non-medical staff respondents. The collected socio-demographic and organizational data and psychological tools were the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI HSS), the ECO System, and the emotional regulation questionnaire (ERQ).

RESULTS

For medical staff, burnout was measured in terms of emotional exhaustion (M = 27.05 ± 12.34), depersonalization (M = 8.26 ± 3.95), and personal accomplishment (M = 47.35 ± 6.78). The scores for non-medical staff were emotional exhaustion (M = 35.84 ± 14.71), depersonalization (M = 11.79 ± 6.30), and personal accomplishment (M = 44 ± 7.37). In terms of workload, higher scores were observed for non-medical staff (M = 25.43 ± 7.87), while medical staff recorded lower values (M = 20.35 ± 7.65). The scores for the cognitive reappraisal dimension were as follows: medical personnel (M = 32.02 ± 5.37) and non-medical staff (M = 31.67 ± 6.19). In terms of the expressive suppression dimension, medical staff registered at M = 17.99 ± 5.61, and non-medical staff registered at M = 17.19 ± 5.53. For organizational justice, higher scores were registered for medical staff (M = 25.87 ± 6.02) and lower scores for non-medical staff (M = 21.34 ± 5.72).

CONCLUSIONS

Medical staff felt a higher sense of organizational justice than non-medical staff, as is also evidenced by the level of the workload dimension, which registers higher values for non-medical personnel. In the case of burnout, higher levels of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization dimensions were also revealed for non-medical staff and, in the case of the professional fulfillment dimension, higher scores were registered for medical staff.