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Perceptions of burnout in medical dosimetry within a post-pandemic work environment

Todd J Baumgartner, BS, RT(T); Keegan Sanborn, BS, RT(T); Milen Reta, BS, RT(T);
Nishele Lenards, PhD, CMD, RT(R)(T), FAAMD; Ashley Hunzeker, MS, CMD;

Sabrina Zeiler, MS, CMD, RT(T)

Medical Dosimetry Program at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, WI, USA
I. Introduction

A. PI: There is concern for medical dosimetrists succumbing to workplace burnout due to
the demands of the job. (References: Howard1)

B. PII: The COVID-19 pandemic increased remote work in the field of medical
dosimetry. (References: Hoffman2, Hayes3)
C. PIII: The American Association of Medical Dosimetrists (AAMD) discuss statistics
supporting occupational demand in the field of medical dosimetry during the
pandemic. (References: AAMD4)
D. PIV: Remote work and staff shortages after the height of the pandemic may have
affected occupational burnout among medical dosimetrists. (References: Hoffman2,
Hayes3)
1. Problem Statement: The problem is that medical dosimetrists could be
experiencing increased burnout in the workplace post-pandemic due to staff
shortages and increased remote planning which may have a negative impact
on work performance.
2. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate perceptions of medical
dosimetrists specific to workplace burnout in a post-pandemic environment
3. Research Questions: Researchers intend to answer research questions: (Q1)
what effect do staffing shortages have on perceived burnout among medical
dosimetrists and (Q2) what effect does remote planning appear to have on
perceived burnout among medical dosimetrists?
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II. Materials and Methods

A. PI: Instrumentation
1. Workplace burnout questionnaire

a. (Q1) What effect do staffing shortages have on perceived burnout

among medical dosimetrists
b. (Q2) What effect does remote planning appear to have on perceived
burnout among medical dosimetrists?
2. Two survey question types: questions pertaining to staffing shortages and
perceived burnout categorized by emotional exhaustion (EE),
depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA); questions
pertaining to remote planning categorized by emotional exhaustion (EE),
depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA)

3. 5 minutes
4. IRB Approval

B. PII: Study Validation and Participant Selection

1. Respondent population
a. Medical dosimetrists
b. Active CMDs only
c. Minimum 3 years of experience
C. PIV: Data Collection and Statistical Analysis
1. Online survey distributed through AAMD membership database
2. Data extracted from Qualtrics
3. Qualtrics used for data storage and calculations
4. Descriptove statistics only
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III. Results

A. PI: General result information

1. Number of responses- 160; 150 used for data analysis
2. Response rate- 6% (160/2591)

B. PII: (Research Question 1) What effect do staffing shortages have on perceived

burnout among medical dosimetrists?
1. Number of respondents experiencing staffing shortages- 57% (86/150)
a. Impact on workload
i. 72% (60/83) indicated more work than they could handle
b. Responses indicating mental and emotional exhaustion
i. 87% (72/83) felt mentally and emotionally exhausted
c. Responses indicating that dosimetrists dread going back to work
i. 61% (51/83) dreaded the idea of going back to work
2. Increased staffing impact on mood and patient care
a. 89% (74/83) believe more staff would positively impact their mood
b. 81% (67/83) believe more staff would result in better patient care
3. Number of respondents experiencing burnout due to staffing shortages
a. Number of respondents experiencing DP- 88% (76/86)
b. Number of respondents experiencing EE- 84% (72/86)
c. Number of respondents experiencing decreased PA- 85% (73/86)
d. Number of respondents experiencing at least one subscale- 93%
(80/86)
C. PIII: (Research Question 2) What effect does remote planning appear to have on
perceived burnout among medical dosimetrists?
1. Responses indicating ability to plan remotely- 73% (106/145)
a. 54% (57/106) remote plan more than once per week and 21%
(22/106) could only plan remotely once per week
i. 90% (93/103) believe opportunities to remote plan have
increased after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
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b. Remote planning impact on job-related stress and mood

i. 67% (69/103) felt stress decreased when working remotely
ii. 83% (86/103) felt mood was positively impacted
c. Remote planning impact on ability to complete work confidently
i. 67% (69/103) feel more confident in their ability to
complete work
2. Number of respondents experiencing interruptions in work setting- 82%
(117/142)
a. 75% (87/116) felt frustrated due to constant interruptions
b. 91% (79/87) feel interruptions decrease when working remotely
i. 65% (75/116) believe remote planning could increase
ability to contribute to patient care
3. Number of respondents experiencing burnout related to working remotely
a. Number of respondents experiencing DP- 67% (71/106)
b. Number of respondents experiencing EE- 6% (6/106)
c. Number of respondents experiencing decreased PA- 8% (8/106)
d. Number of respondents experiencing at least one subscale- 68%
(72/106)

IV. Discussion

A. PI: Summarization of survey participants

B. PII: Survey summarization of results of burnout of medical dosimetrists as a result of
staffing shortages
C. PIII: Survey summarization of results of burnout of medical dosimetrists as a result of
remote planning

V. Conclusion

Acknowledgements
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References
1. Howard, M. The incidence of burnout or compassion fatigue in medical dosimetrists
as a function of various stress and psychologic factors. Med Dosim. 2013;38(1):88-94.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2012.07.006
2. Hoffman KE, Garner D, Koong AC, Woodward WA. Understanding the intersection
of working from home and burnout to optimize post-covid19 work arrangements in
radiation oncology. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020;108(2):370-373. https://doi:
1016/j.ijrobp.2020.06.062
3. Hayes SW, Priestley JL, Moore BA, Ray HE. Perceived stress, work-related burnout,
and working from home before and during covid-19: an examination of workers in the
United States. SAGE Open. 2021;11(4): https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440211058193
4. Aczel B, Kovacs M, van der Lippe T, Szaszi B. Researchers working from home:
benefits and challenges. PLOS One. 2021;16(3):e0249127.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249127
5. American Association of Medical Dosimetrists: Medical dosimetry workforce study:
https://pubs.medicaldosimetry.org/pub/6C754B84-E1AA-DDA9-1C85-
2F6282AEA009. Updated June 21, 2021. Accessed April 12, 2022.
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labor market in the United States: lower paid workers experienced higher
vulnerability and slower recovery. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(8):3894.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18083894