Summary
Evolution of burnout, professional fulfillment, and self-compassionate improvement perspective among health care professionals during a prolonged health crisis: differential characteristics of emergency physicians
María de los Ángeles López-Hernández1, Elena Lorenzo -Sánchez2, Iluminada López-Hernández3, Mickey Trockel4
Affiliation of the authors
1Servicio de Urgencias, Hospital Universitario de Canarias, Tenerife, Spain. 2Departamento de Psicología Cognitiva, Social y Organizacional, Universidad de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain. 3Aeromédica Canaria SL, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. 4Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA.
DOI
Quote
López-Hernández MA, Lorenzo-Sánchez E, López-Hernández I, Trockel M. Evolution of burnout, professional fulfillment, and self-compassionate improvement perspective among health care professionals during a prolonged health crisis: differential characteristics of emergency physicians. Rev Esp Urg Emerg. 2026;5:30-5
Summary
OBJECTIVE. To understand the evolutionary pattern of burnout, professional fulfillment, and self-assessment among health care professionals facing a prolonged health crisis, with a focus on the differential characteristics of emergency physicians.
MATERIALS AND METHODS. We conducted a national, observational, randomized study via e-mail. Participation was anonymous and voluntary. Data were collected in 3 phases, corresponding to waves of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022). The survey was based on the Spanish version of the Professional Fulfillment Index and compassion-with scoring guidelines, adapted from the
Stanford Medicine WellMD Center, 2017.
RESULTS. A total of 540 health care professionals participated (50.4 % men), aged 25-69 years (M, 47.57; SD, 10.5). Of these, 78.3 % were physicians, 14.3 % nurses, and 7.3 % other professions. There were 116 emergency physicians. Burnout scores were: first wave (n = 245) mean 1.25 (SD, 0.74); third wave (n = 159) mean 1.61 (SD 0.83); sixth wave (n = 136) mean 1.46 (SD, 0.76).
Statistical analysis showed F 10.93; P < .001; n 20.20; B0.22. Professional fulfillments cores across waves were: first wave mean, 2.37 (SD 0.97); third wave mean, 2.28 (SD, 0.55); sixth wave mean, 2.32 (SD, 0.76). Statistical analysis showed F 0.77; P = .465; n 2 0.06; B0.22. Self-assessment scores across waves were: first wave mean 2.09 (SD, 0.99); third wave mean, 1.74 (SD, 0.69); sixth wave
mean, 1.95 (SD 0.66). Statistical analysis showed F 9.00; P < .001; n 0.19; B 0.82. Emergency physicians, specifically, showed a mean of 1.48 (SD, 0.91) for burnout, 2.27 (SD, 0.66) for professional fulfillment, and 1.93 (SD, 0.73) for self-assessment.
CONCLUSIONS. The pandemic led to an increase in burnout prevalence and a decrease in self-assessment and professional fulfillment among health care professionals. While emergency physicians initially presented with the worst data, their evolutionary recovery pattern differed, showing a better response in their self-assessment, reaching their best value in the last wave. The training and practice in managing prolonged stress among emergency physicians might influence their psychosocial recovery.