Employee and Patient Designed Study of Burnout and Job Satisfaction in a Chronic Care Hospital

Abstract

The relationship of workplace variables to bumout and job satisfaction, in a small chronic care hospital, was examined. The study was designed by groups of patients, staff and management in consultation with the authors. This process of having all groups be active in the design was in itself a powerful technique for commencing change in the organization. In the survey phase of the research, participants consisted of 161 employees (including 19 management). They completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Work Environment Scale, the Role Ambiguity subscale of the Occupational Stress Inventory, and a lengthy inventory designed for the study which included a job satisfaction item. Many of the workplace variables were significantly correlated with both burnout and job satisfaction; the pattern of findings would suggest that these results are not just due to response style.