Burnout Among Romanian Healthcare Professionals: The Role of Work – Home Interference

Abstract

In a healthcare system decayed by inconsistent legislative changes we propose an investigation into the role of occupational factors in burnout development among a sample of Romanian healthcare professionals. Moreover, we aim to test the role of the negative influence of work upon private life in burnout development. Cross-sectional data was collected during April 2012 from a sample of 327 physicians and nurses in one county emergency hospital from Transylvania. Participants filled out 1) the MBI-GS, 2) the Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work, and 3) the corresponding negative work-home interference scale from the Survey Work-Home Interaction Nijmegen. All scales had good psychometric properties. Structural equation modeling with Bootstrapping analysis was used to test the hypothesised relations. Multigroup analyses were computed to test model’s invariance. Results indicate that the model obtained an overall good fit: χ² (11) = 47.21, CFI = .95, NFI = .93, GFI = .96, and RMSEA = .10. Job demands predict both burnout (β=.59, p < .001) and work-home interference (β=.64, p < .001). Work-home interference partially mediates the job demands–burnout relation. Multigroup analyses confirmed that the model is invariant across age, medical speciality, and number of children under care. The present study brings evidence for the salient role of workhome interference in burnout development among healthcare professionals. Our results have implications in designing interventions focused on both reducing and preventing burnout in Romanian healthcare professionals.