HEALTHCARE worker burnout affected two-thirds of hospital staff, with the highest prevalence among mid-career medical professionals.
A cross-sectional study of 278 physicians and nurses at a designated infectious disease hospital in Lanzhou, China, found that 66.91% experienced occupational burnout. The findings highlight how burnout patterns differ throughout healthcare careers, with potential implications for workforce retention and clinician well-being.
Researchers surveyed hospital staff in May 2025 using a revised Chinese version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory–Human Services Survey, assessing emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment.
Healthcare professionals with 16–20 years of service had the highest burnout prevalence, at 83.33%, compared with 56.36% among those with five years or less of experience.
Severe burnout was most prevalent among staff with 21–25 years of service, affecting 15.38%, while those with at least 26 years of service had a lower overall burnout prevalence of 60.38%.
Burnout severity distributions differed significantly across career stages (P=0.015). However, total burnout scores did not differ significantly between groups, and years of service showed no significant overall correlation with burnout severity.
Different dimensions of occupational burnout followed distinct patterns.
Emotional exhaustion scores were highest among professionals with 16–20 years of service, while depersonalization scores were highest among those with 6–10 years of experience. Neither difference was statistically significant.
Reduced personal accomplishment was the only dimension showing significant differences across groups (P=0.020), with significantly higher scores among professionals with 21–25 years of service than those with five years or less.
After adjustment for gender and professional title, staff with 16–20 years of service had higher estimated odds of burnout than the least experienced group (OR: 3.007; 95% CI: 0.972–9.302), although this association did not reach statistical significance.
The findings suggest that hospitals may benefit from tailoring burnout prevention strategies to different career stages.
Researchers recommended career development opportunities, mentorship, flexible scheduling, and psychological support, particularly for experienced clinicians facing increasing professional responsibilities.
For healthcare administrators, the findings reinforce the importance of identifying emotional exhaustion and declining professional fulfillment before burnout becomes more severe.
However, the single-center, cross-sectional design, reliance on self-reported data, and small subgroup sizes limit generalizability and prevent conclusions about how burnout progresses over time.
Reference
Mu B et al. Occupational burnout among medical staff in a designated infectious disease hospital in Lanzhou: differences by length of service. Front Public Health. 2026;14. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1980986.
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