Emotional exhaustion among regional doctors in training and the application of international guidelines on sustainable employability management for organisations

Objective. The first objective of this study was to assess the associations between individual, community and hospital factors with emotional exhaustion (EE) among rural Australian doctors in training (DITs); the second objective was to apply criteria from an international standard that measures sustainable employability in organisations. Methods. A cross-sectional study of 70 DITs was conducted. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of EE across individual, community and organisational factors were calculated. Results. DITs with poor or moderate ability to cope with mental work demands had higher odds of being emotionally exhausted (OR 8.273; 95% CI 1.693–40.423), as did DITs with sleep disturbance (OR 6.187; 95% CI 1.721–22.242). Higher psychological distress (OR 1.701; 95% CI 1.286–2.249), more hours worked on-call (OR 1.052; 95% CI 1.011–1.094) and increased presenteeism (OR 1.285; 95% CI 1.049–1.576) were associated with being emotionally exhausted. Those who felt ambivalent or unsatisfied with hospital support networks had threefold higher odds of EE (OR 3.323; 95%CI 1.191–9.273). All metrics associated with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) sustainable employability guidelines were significantly associated with EE; DITs who thought the hospital did not promote physical (OR 5.489; 95%CI 1.494–20.162) or mental health behaviours (OR 4.750; 95%CI 1.228–18.406) and those who did not perceive DITs overall well-being to be prioritised had higher odds of EE (OR 8.800; 95% CI 1.920–40.336). Conclusions. When DITs perceive the hospital promotes and prioritises well-being measures and provides a supportive environment, they are less likely to experience EE. This pilot study demonstrated the value of using an international standard to measure sustainable employability in hospitals.