The study reveals that 35 percent of the staff left the field of hemophilia/HIV care within four years of entering the study, says researcher, Larry K. Brown, M.D., of Brown University Medical School. Workers’ rating of stress with their colleagues was the top reason people left the field.
Although the medical and emotional components of treating HIV/AIDS patients are similar, regardless of the cause of infection, “support from professional colleagues, rather than any specific job task, is the more salient factor in enhancing employee retention” among those who work only with the hemophilia patients, Brown says. The article is published in the February issue of General Hospital Psychiatry.
Surprisingly, burnout was not a major factor in the high turnover, the authors found. “Colleague support was the factor most related over time to the retention of professionals,” they report, concluding, that “job stress may be reduced by improving team relationships and enhancing colleague support.”
This study is one of very few to examine attitudes of care givers who work in this field for longer than a year and provides a “detailed picture of the relationships among occupational stress, professional support, burnout and employee retention.”
Grappling with the problem of high staff turnover is not only important for general staff morale, but it can wreak havoc with patients and families dependent on long-term care and stable relationships with healthcare staff.
In lean times, staff replacement may not be an option and transitional periods with staff shortages or not-yet-trained staff can prove wearing. The health care system itself also loses, according to the researchers. For example, they point out that investing in specialized training represents a considerable investment over and above simply getting a professional degree. Training for a nurse’s employment in a hemophilia treatment center ranges from $2,000 to $5,000, according to the researchers.
In the study, 213 staff, including doctors, nurses and mental health workers at hemophilia centers around the country were surveyed. They were asked about burnout, perceived stresses and job satisfaction. They were then surveyed again two and four years later.
The researchers conclude that “attrition of highly trained staff is a significant issue for patients and hemophilia treatment centers.” They underscore how crucial a well-functioning team is in buffering the inevitable stresses associated with HIV care.
By improving team relationships and enhancing colleague support, the authors argue, retention could prove less of a problem. They speculate that mental health professionals may be able to work with staff in these hard-to-practice work environments. That said, the researchers conclude that these hypotheses must be examined in subsequent research.
This study was funded in part by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Brown University School of Medicine.
General Hospital Psychiatry is a peer-reviewed research journal published bimonthly by Elsevier Science. For information about the journal, contact Don R. Lipsitt, M.D., at (617) 499-5008.
Journal
General Hospital Psychiatry