Burnout and associated factors among healthcare workers in acute care settings at a tertiary teaching hospital in Tanzania: An analytical cross-sectional study

Background and aims: Healthcare worker burnout has been linked to increased patient safety risk, low work professionalism, and low satisfaction with the care encounter. This study aimed to find the prevalence and factors associated with burnout among healthcare workers in acute care settings at a national referral hospital in Tanzania.

Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was performed at a national referral hospital in Tanzania. Healthcare workers at the departments of Emergency Medicine, Intensive Care Unit, and Anesthesia at Muhimbili National Hospital were recruited from January 2021 to March 2021. A two-part questionnaire adopted from the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and MBI-Human Services Survey tool were administered to measure burnout. Categorical variables were summarized using frequencies and percentages, and variables were compared using logistic regression.

Results: A total of 174 healthcare workers were issued questionnaires to participate in the study. With a response rate of 78%, 135 healthcare workers were included in the study, 43.7% were from the intensive care unit; the majority were female (63.7%), and assistant nursing officers (42%). The prevalence of burnout among participants was 62%, with 90.4% of participants showing a high level of emotional exhaustion. A longer duration of a single-day shift was associated with increased burnout among work-related factors (p < 0.001). Fewer night-time sleeping hours, tobacco use, and lack of regular exercise were significantly associated with increased burnout among social-related factors (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The study showed an alarmingly high prevalence of burnout among healthcare workers in the acute care setting of Muhimbili National Hospital. Personal well-being and participation in wellness programs have been associated with a reduced prevalence of burnout. The hospital should address the issue of burnout among its healthcare workers. This also calls for immediate action, necessitating further studies at the regional and national levels to ascertain the burden and causes of burnout in this setting.