An Approach to Addressing Trainee Burnout: Revising Fellow Shift Scheduling in the Intensive Care Unit

Introduction: Rotating shift patterns and night shifts are associated with fatigue and sleep deprivation, which in turn contribute to burnout. The aim of this quality improvement initiative at Mayo Clinic Rochester critical care fellowship programs was to implement a new critical care fellow shift schedule in the medical intensive care unit while evaluating the impact on self-reported burnout scores. Materials and Methods: Focus groups of fellows weighed pros and cons of the existing schedule and selected a revision of the schedule in which night shifts were grouped into blocks with limited frequency and incorporated a recovery period. Baseline self-reported burnout amongst critical care fellows was assessed using an abbreviated Maslach burnout inventory (MBI) screening questionnaire and re-evaluated at the end of the implementation period. Results: At baseline, 33 of 45 (73%) fellows responded to a survey with the abbreviated Maslach Burnout Index questionnaire. Median (IQR) scores for each of the domains were 10 (6-12) emotional exhaustion, 3 (1-9) depersonalization, and 15 (13-17) personal accomplishment. For the post-intervention survey, 17 out of 24 (71%) responded. The median (IQR) score for critical care internal medicine and pulmonary and critical care fellows was 7 (4-11), P=.06 and 9 (7-11), P=0.5 for emotional exhaustion; 3 (0-6), P=.07 and 5 (0-11), P=1.0 for depersonalization score; and 16 (11-17), P=.31 and 15 (12-17), P=.75 for personal accomplishment score. Discussion: Reducing the number of day-night rotations, incorporating a scheduled recovery period, and limiting the number of recurrent consecutive nights resulted in a trend towards improvement of self-reported burnout amongst critical care fellows.