Use of the Well-Being Index to identify pharmacy residents in distress

Abstract

Objective(s): Identify current pharmacy residents' level of distress, likelihood of burnout, likelihood of severe fatigue, suicidal ideation, meaning in work, satisfaction with work-life balance, and overall quality of life.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey, conducted between February 1, 2020 and March 31, 2020. The pharmacist Well-Being Index (WBI) was used to collect data from first- and second-year pharmacy resident participants. A survey was sent to each residency program director (RPD) listed in the American Society of Health-System Pharmacist directory. RPDs were asked to forward the e-mail with information on the survey for the residents to complete. The e-mail contained a description of the research project and a link to the research survey. Respondents were asked to complete questions regarding their demographics in the research survey, including age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, commute time, type of residency, year of residency, etc. They were then asked to complete the WBI through the provided link and asked to enter their results from the WBI into the survey.

Results: Pharmacy residents are at high risk for developing burnout; 53% of the participants were considered to be high risk. Approximately 43% of the pharmacy residents were considered to have a moderate to high risk for developing severe fatigue, and 57% had poor work-life integration scores. Participants were found to have a high quality of life and high meaning in their work, 46% and 62%, respectively.

Conclusion: The study identified that pharmacy residents who experienced great levels of distress were more likely to experience symptoms of burnout and more likely to experience fatigue. Pharmacy residents also experienced a high quality of life and high meaning in their work.