Authors

  1. Medich, Melissa PhD, MPH
  2. Rose, Danielle PhD
  3. McClean, Michael BA
  4. Nelson, Karin MD, MSHS
  5. Stewart, Gregory PhD
  6. Ganz, David A. MD, PhD
  7. Yano, Elizabeth M. PhD, MSPH
  8. Stockdale, Susan E. PhD

Abstract

Primary care clerical staff may experience burnout if not adequately prepared and supported for patient-facing customer service tasks. Guided by the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, we use national survey data from 707 primary care clerks at 349 VA clinics (2018; response rate: 12%) to evaluate associations between clerks' perceptions of tasks, work environment, training, and burnout. We found challenges with customer-facing tasks contribute to higher burnout, and supportive work environment was associated with lower burnout. Although perceptions of training were not associated with burnout, our results combined with the JD-R model suggest that customer service training may protect against burnout.