Boundary work as a buffer against burnout: Evidence from healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 1 August 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Journal of Applied Psychology
- Vol. 106 (8), 1169-1187
- https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000951
Abstract
Burnout represents a significant problem for many modern-day workers, but perhaps none more acutely than those in healthcare. Imbued with the chronic stressors that often accompany high-risk, interpersonal work, the healthcare industry is rife with stories of burnout, and the addition of a pandemic has intensified the challenges of an already demanding work environment. With an aim toward understanding the root causes of pandemic-exacerbated burnout, we document the experiences of 93 healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and, in doing so, explore an important link between burnout and work-nonwork boundaries. We find the contextual shock of the pandemic resulted in an increased incidence of boundary violations-undesired disruptions between work and other important life domains such as personal and family life. These boundary violations-which we classify as physical, temporal, or knowledge-basedfrequently corresponded to greater reports of burnout manifested by exhaustion, detachment, and inefficacy. We detail specific patterns within the broader context of boundary violations whereby intrusion events are associated with increased job-related demands and distancing events are associated with reduced job-related resources. In addition to documenting the connection between burnout and boundary violations, we also reveal how workers utilized specific boundary work tactics in response to specific types of boundary violations to redefine boundaries and forestall burnout. Our grounded theorizing points to theoretical and practical implications for the impact of boundary work tactics on burnout and other stress-related phenomena.Keywords
This publication has 40 references indexed in Scilit:
- Recovery at Work: Understanding the Restorative Side of “Depleting” Client InteractionsAcademy of Management Review, 2012
- Work–nonwork boundary management profiles: A person-centered approachJournal of Vocational Behavior, 2012
- Positive and negative work–family interaction and burnout: A longitudinal study of reciprocal relationsWork & Stress, 2008
- On the edge of identity: Boundary dynamics at the interface of individual and organizational identitiesHuman Relations, 2006
- Sources of social support and burnout: A meta-analytic test of the conservation of resources model.Journal of Applied Psychology, 2006
- Telecommuting, control, and boundary management: Correlates of policy use and practice, job control, and work–family effectivenessJournal of Vocational Behavior, 2006
- Quality and trustworthiness in qualitative research in counseling psychology.Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2005
- Job Resources Buffer the Impact of Job Demands on Burnout.Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 2005
- The job demands-resources model of burnout.Journal of Applied Psychology, 2001
- Sources of Conflict Between Work and Family RolesAcademy of Management Review, 1985