The relationship between job burnout and quality of work life in pre-hospital emergency staff: Descriptive-correlation study

Abstract

Background and aims: Pre-hospital emergency staff are often faced with highly stressful situations, leading most often to occupational burnout. One of the crucial factors affecting job burnout is the quality of work life. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between job burnout and quality of work life (QWL) among pre-hospital emergency staff in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province in 2021. Methods: The descriptive-correlation study was conducted on 295 pre-hospital emergency staff in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari provinces in 2021. The instruments used in this study to collect data were Richard Walton’s Quality of Work Life Questionnaire and Maslach’s Burnout Inventory. The data were analyzed with SPSS-16 statistical software using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results: There was a significant inverse relationship between work-life quality and job burnout among pre-hospital emergency staff (P<0.001, r=-0.553). The study’s findings showed that the average score of the QWL and job burnout among study participants was 64.73±11.58 and 81.53±10.35, respectively. Conclusion: Identifying the dimensions of job burnout and the quality of work-life among pre-hospital emergency staff can provide vital information to policymakers in the health field, especially pre-hospital emergencies. Thus, decision-makers and administrators with effective management can develop appropriate policies to reduce job burnout, improve the QWL, increase job productivity, and ultimately satisfy the demands of patients.

Keywords

• job burnout
• quality of work life
• pre-hospital emergency staff
• medical emergencies