Team building in a high stress environment 

A report from the American Academy of Medicine highlights the importance of creating a positive work environment to counteract the negative effects of burnout syndrome on healthcare workers. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of burning syndrome among military hospital personnel and to examine the relationship between teamwork, burnout, and patient safety culture. A logistic regression analysis examined the relationship between teamwork and fatigue using data from the 2019 U.S. Department of Defense Patient Safety Culture Survey of 15,838 military hospital personnel.

A further regression analysis examined the relationship between teamwork and burnout between individual workplaces and personnel positions. The results showed that about a third of the respondents suffer from burnout.

• The workplaces most likely to report burnout include pharmacy, labor, maternity/midwifery, and a variety of other workplaces.
• The staff positions that report the most burnout include pharmacy staff and nursing staff. However, research has shown that there is a relationship between lower burnout and greater teamwork within and between departments.
• Teamwork on the unit was associated with lower odds of burnout in almost all work areas and staff positions, with greater odds of emergency department and labor/delivery staff, physicians/medical staff, and assistants/technicians/therapists. 

As a result, effective teamwork can reduce burnout among hospital staff. This relationship between teamwork (primarily teamwork in units) and burnout was found in all work domains, even in domains with low levels of reported workplace chaos. Greater adoption of workplace interventions focusing on improving teamwork is needed.  

Source Article:  

Teamwork Is Associated with Reduced Hospital Staff Burnout at Military Treatment Facilities: Findings from the 2019 Department of Defense Patient Safety Culture Survey 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1553725022002690

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