Burnout in Audiologists: Sources, Susceptibility, and Solutions

By Brian M. Kreisman

This article is a part of the March/April 2017, Volume 29, Number 2, Audiology Today issue.

“I’m so busy and stressed now that I’m working—and I thought grad school was bad!” “I’m so tired.” “I am sick of doing a good job and not being valued.” “Stick a (tuning) fork in me, I’m done!” A single term can describe what these individuals are feeling—burnout. Burnout is related to stress, frustration, and exhaustion that is emotional (Glasberg et al, 2007; Lavinder, 2005), physical (Felton, 1998), psychological (Jacobs et al, 2012), and/or spiritual (Crandell and Kreisman, 2004). Regardless of how broad the definition of burnout, studies agree that burnout results in “lowered production, and increases in absenteeism, health-care costs, and personnel turnover,” and produces “both physical and behavioral changes” (Felton, 1998, p. 237). While much has been written about burnout in the general population, this article will discuss the sources of burnout, susceptibility to burnout, and possible solutions to burnout for audiologists.

Sources of Burnout

Burnout inventories assess general factors that relate to burnout. One measure often used is the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Maslach et al, 1996). The MBI consists of the following three subscales:

1. Emotional exhaustion
2. Depersonalization—“an unfeeling and impersonal response toward recipients of one’s service, care, treatment, or instruction” (Maslach et al, 1996, p. 194)
3. Personal accomplishment

Higher emotional exhaustion, higher depersonalization, and lower ranks of competence and one’s personal accomplishments are correlated to burnout. Another questionnaire that provides a useful general framework is The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CPI) (Borritz et al, 2006). The CPI has questions related to three different aspects of burnout: personal burnout, work-related burnout, and client-related burnout. Adapting the CPI model, I propose that there are four sources of burnout for audiologists: (1) personal, (2) work-related, (3) client-related, and (4) audiology-specific. It is helpful to discuss the stressors within these sources of burnout separately, keeping in mind that stressors may overlap categories and can have a cumulative effect on an individual.