Research Update: Job Satisfaction
Shifting Tides in Homecare Burnout: Job Satisfaction Is Improving
Job satisfaction among the home care nursing workforce is improving, exceeding 70 percent in Transcend Strategy Group’s latest study. Dissatisfaction peaked in winter 2022 as self-reported burnout rates climbed above 60 percent.
Members of the nursing workforce attribute the gains in satisfaction to the normalization of life after the COVID-19 pandemic and organizational efforts to improve workforce conditions.
Respondents expressed optimism about the future, expecting burnout to continue to improve as the peak of the COVID pandemic fades. These sentiments were greatest among newer members of the nursing workforce and lesser among RNs at the four- to six-year mark.
The Future of Burnout
How would you characterize the future of burnout in home care?
Improving
Getting Worse
Here to Stay
“Setting and keeping boundaries is so important with patients and employers. Younger nurses struggle and it will wreck their sanity.”
– 43-year-old RN, female, Missouri
Despite the overall decrease from 2022, 53 percent of respondents in the latest survey still report burnout within the past six months. The highest rates were reported among roles requiring advanced training, such as registered nurses and nurse practitioners, as well as workforce members in their first three years.
The greatest amount of change in self-reported burnout has been among those at the seven- to nine-year mark in their career – who reported the highest rates in 2022 and among the lowest in the most recent study.
Respondents reported the primary causes of their burnout are/were long-term job stress and how their organization handles workload and on-call management.
Causes of Burnout
Defined as chronic workplace stress leading to near constant feelings of exhaustion, increased mental or emotional distance from one’s job, and negative or cynical feelings about one’s job.
Why are/were you burnt out?
Long-Term Job Stress
Workload/On-Call Management
Source: Transcend Strategy Group; Homecare Nursing Workforce Satisfaction Survey
“It’s a lot of work to take care of someone every day and to do this for years and years with all the struggles that come with that.”
– 29-year-old HHA, female, Connecticut
“The high-intensity work makes me physically and mentally exhausted, and that pressure just can’t be relieved.”
– 37-year-old LPN, male, California
