To determine whether there is an association between healthcare professionals’ wellbeing and burnout, with patient safety. Systematic research review. PsychInfo (1806 to July 2015), Medline (1946 to July 2015), Embase (1947 to July 2015) and Scopus (1823 to July 2015) were searched, along with reference lists of eligible articles. Quantitative, empirical studies that included i) either a measure of wellbeing or burnout, and ii) patient safety, in healthcare staff populations. Forty-six studies were identified. Sixteen out of the 27 studies that measured wellbeing found a significant correlation between poor wellbeing and worse patient safety, with six additional studies finding an association with some but not all scales used, and one study finding a significant association but in the opposite direction to the majority of studies. Twenty-one out of the 30 studies that measured burnout found a significant association between burnout and patient safety, whilst a further four studies found an association between one or more (but not all) subscales of the burnout measures employed, and patient safety. Poor wellbeing and moderate to high levels of burnout are associated, in the majority of studies reviewed, with poor patient safety outcomes such as medical errors, however the lack of prospective studies reduces the ability to determine causality. Further prospective studies, research in primary care, conducted within the UK, and a clearer definition of healthcare staff wellbeing are needed. This review illustrates the need for healthcare organisations to consider improving employees’ mental health as well as creating safer work environments when planning interventions to improve patient safety. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42015023340.

Importance: Physician burnout has taken the form of an epidemic that may affect core domains of health care delivery, including patient safety, quality of care, and patient satisfaction. However, this evidence has not been systematically quantified. Objective: To examine whether physician burnout is associated with an increased risk of patient safety incidents, suboptimal care outcomes due to low professionalism, and lower patient satisfaction. Data Sources: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo, and CINAHL databases were searched until October 22, 2017, using combinations of the key terms physicians , burnout , and patient care . Detailed standardized searches with no language restriction were undertaken. The reference lists of eligible studies and other relevant systematic reviews were hand-searched. Study Selection: Quantitative observational studies. Data Extraction and Synthesis: Two independent reviewers were involved. The main meta-analysis was followed by subgroup and sensitivity analyses. All analyses were performed using random-effects models. Formal tests for heterogeneity ( I ² ) and publication bias were performed. Main Outcomes and Measures: The core outcomes were the quantitative associations between burnout and patient safety, professionalism, and patient satisfaction reported as odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% CIs. Results: Of the 5234 records identified, 47 studies on 42 473 physicians (25 059 [59.0%] men; median age, 38 years [range, 27-53 years]) were included in the meta-analysis. Physician burnout was associated with an increased risk of patient safety incidents (OR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.59-2.40), poorer quality of care due to low professionalism (OR, 2.31; 95% CI, 1.87-2.85), and reduced patient satisfaction (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.42-3.68). The heterogeneity was high and the study quality was low to moderate. The links between burnout and low professionalism were larger in residents and early-career (≤5 years post residency) physicians compared with middle- and late-career physicians (Cohen Q = 7.27; P = .003). The reporting method of patient safety incidents and professionalism (physician-reported vs system-recorded) significantly influenced the main results (Cohen Q = 8.14; P = .007). Conclusions and Relevance: This meta-analysis provides evidence that physician burnout may jeopardize patient care; reversal of this risk has to be viewed as a fundamental health care policy goal across the globe. Health care organizations are encouraged to invest in efforts to improve physician wellness, particularly for early-career physicians. The methods of recording patient care quality and safety outcomes require improvements to concisely capture the outcome of burnout on the performance of health care organizations.

Background: The goal of the current study was to investigate psychological resilience in the older adults (>64 years) compared with that of the young ones (<26 years).Methods: Questionnaire measures of depression, hopelessness, general health and resilience were administered to the participants. The resilience measure comprised three sub‐scales of social support, emotional regulation and problem solving.Results: The older adults were the more resilient group especially with respect to emotional regulation ability and problem solving. The young ones had more resilience related to social support. Poor perceptions of general health and low energy levels predicted low levels of resilience regardless of age. Low hopelessness scores also predicted greater resilience in both groups. Experiencing higher levels of mental illness and physical dysfunction predicted high resilience scores especially for the social support resilience scale in the older adults. The negative effects of depression on resilience related to emotional regulation were countered by low hopelessness but only in the young adults.Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of maintaining resilience‐related coping skills in both young and older adults but indicate that different psychological processes underlie resilience across the lifespan. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rising levels of burnout and poor well‐being in healthcare staff are an international concern for health systems. The need to improve well‐being and reduce burnout has long been acknowledged, but few interventions target mental healthcare staff, and minimal improvements have been seen in services. This review aimed to examine the problem of burnout and well‐being in mental healthcare staff and to present recommendations for future research and interventions. A discursive review was undertaken examining trends, causes, implications, and interventions in burnout and well‐being in healthcare staff working in mental health services. Data were drawn from national surveys, reports, and peer‐reviewed journal articles. These show that staff in mental healthcare report poorer well‐being than staff in other healthcare sectors. Poorer well‐being and higher burnout are associated with poorer quality and safety of patient care, higher absenteeism, and higher turnover rates. Interventions are effective, but effect sizes are small. The review concludes that grounding interventions in the research literature, emphasizing the positive aspects of interventions to staff, building stronger links between healthcare organizations and universities, and designing interventions targeting burnout and improved patient care together may improve the effectiveness and uptake of interventions by staff.

Background: Qualitative synthesis approaches are increasingly used in healthcare research. One of the most commonly utilised approaches is meta-ethnography. This is a systematic approach which synthesises data from multiple studies to enable new insights into patients’ and healthcare professionals’ experiences and perspectives. Meta-ethnographies can provide important theoretical and conceptual contributions and generate evidence for healthcare practice and policy. However, there is currently a lack of clarity and guidance surrounding the data synthesis stages and process. Method: This paper aimed to outline a step-by-step method for conducting a meta-ethnography with illustrative examples. Results: A practical step-by-step guide for conducting meta-ethnography based on the original seven steps as developed by Noblit & Hare (Meta-ethnography: Synthesizing qualitative studies.,1998) is presented. The stages include getting started, deciding what is relevant to the initial interest, reading the studies, determining how the studies are related, translating the studies into one another, synthesising the translations and expressing the synthesis. We have incorporated adaptations and developments from recent publications. Annotations based on a previous meta-ethnography are provided. These are particularly detailed for stages 4–6, as these are often described as being the most challenging to conduct, but with the most limited amount of guidance available. Conclusion: Meta-ethnographic synthesis is an important and increasingly used tool in healthcare research, which can be used to inform policy and practice. The guide presented clarifies how the stages and processes involved in conducting a meta-synthesis can be operationalised.