Influence of years of experience and age on hospital workforce compassion satisfaction, anxiety, depression, stress, and burnout during pandemic: Implications for retention

The hospital workforce is experiencing overwork and burnout in response to COVID-19. It is imperative to identify those experiencing mental duress and determine protective factors to promote mental wellness and workforce retention. Our research aim was to identify the mental wellness and professional quality of life among hospital staff working during a global health pandemic, and to determine if age or years of experience served as protective factors. We electronically surveyed hospital staff in North Dakota during Summer 2021. Participants reported demographic data and completed clinically validated behavioral health screening tools assessing anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and work-related quality of life. The survey was administered to all 47 hospitals in North Dakota and received 771 complete responses. All hospital staff ages 18 and older were invited to participate. Age and years of experience were collected categorically in line with research on the topic. Years of experience had a significant influence (p < 0.05) on compassion satisfaction, burnout, and perceived stress. Compassion satisfaction was lowest for those who had worked 5-10 years, and then began to increase incrementally every 10 years thereafter. Hospital staff with 21-30 years of experience reported the highest mean score for both perceived stress and depression. Age had a significant influence (p < 0.05) on scores for anxiety, depression, compassion satisfaction, burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and perceived stress. Those closest to retirement (the oldest and those with the greatest years of experience) reported higher compassion satisfaction, while the youngest cohorts reported experiencing greater stress and burnout and may subsequently leave the profession. This may impact access to, and quality of, care. This study demonstrates the need to implement interventions with a focus on defending healthcare workers from the psychological effects of their caring profession.