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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website contains images, voices and names of deceased persons.
The Knowledge and Implementation Hub team undertook a desktop environmental scan to find high-quality burnout tools used within aged care. To read more about our environmental scan process, see the PDF report below.
In November 2022, we conducted an environmental scan and literature searches to find existing tools to measure burnout for the aged care workforce. A three-pronged search strategy was used to identify these tools. This involved:
Modifications were made to the environmental scan’s inclusion criteria. The initial environmental scan included diverse populations and locations due to insufficient availability of burnout tools used in Australian aged care settings. In this update, the inclusion criteria were revised to include tools used exclusively within the aged care context, however, the international perspective was retained to address ongoing gaps in tool application within the Australian context. Resilience measures were excluded in this update to allow for a more targeted evaluation of burnout tools. For further information about the modifications made, please see the PDF report below.
The environmental scan process was repeated in November 2023, employing the same methods and modified inclusion criteria. The Knowledge and Implementation Hub team will repeat the scan process at scheduled intervals to ensure the resource content for staff burnout in aged care remains current.
We found five tools that was used to measure burnout in Australian aged care workers and 12 tools used within the aged care international context.
All five tools in this category have been used among Australian aged care workers.
The adapted COVI-Prim Survey was based on the COVI-Prim Survey and was used within the Australian aged care setting. [1] The original COVI-Prim Survey was developed to investigate the role played by general practitioners (GPs) in the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, their challenges, concerns, and the strategies they have developed to cope with the pandemic. [1] The original version has a total of 58 items that covered eight demographic items, 48 closed items and two items requiring GPs to provide exact numbers. [1] The adapted COVI-Prim Survey for use with the Australian residential aged care workforce (not only GPs) has a total of 60 items that include a question about suffering from burnout. [1] The questions are answerable by ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘not applicable’ and some are open-ended questions. [1,2] It was pre-tested for intelligibility of content and design by four Australian healthcare professionals and researchers, however, there were no reported validity and reliability testing. [1,2] The adapted survey tool was sent as a questionnaire for respondents to complete. [1,2]
The survey tool can be used free of charge and accessed in this full paper. [1]
A pilot tool was developed to assess the perception of nursing staff in Australian aged care settings about stress and burnout. [3] The tool was found to have an overall good validity and internal consistency for the stress or burnout subscales which include work environment, burnout, control, job satisfaction, psychosocial stressors and symptoms and personality/behaviour. [3] It has 52 items and the items are scored using a Likert Scale which varies in number depending on the item question. [3] Higher scores indicate higher levels of stress and burnout considered as separate concepts. [3] The tool was sent as questionnaire for respondents to complete. [3]
This pilot tool was part of a PhD project and can be accessed in the full PhD thesis dissertation. [3]
Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) tool is the most used measure of burnout among aged care workers, particularly those in residential settings in Australia. [4-6] The MBI was developed to assess occupational burnout and includes subscales on emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and personal achievement. [5] The MBI was found to have good validity and reliability properties. [5] It has 16-22 items depending on which version is used and is scored using a 0-6 Likert scale (0 – never, 6 – everyday), relating to the frequency of experiencing the questions listed in tool. [5] Higher scores reflect higher burnout risk. [5] The MBI can be administered by anyone collecting the data for an organisation or can be self-administered and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. [5]
Licensed copies of the MBI can be purchased via the Mind Garden website. [5]
The MBI Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) was used among aged care workers in Australia. [7] It is a version of the MBI and was developed specific to the population of human services employees – this includes professionals in diverse roles. [5] It assesses three core aspects of burnout including emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and lack of personal accomplishment. [5] It has 22 items and assessed using a 0-6 Likert scale (0 – never, 6 – everyday). [5] Higher scores reflect higher burnout risk. [5] The tool was found to have good validity and reliability properties. [5] The MBI-HSS can be administered by anyone collecting the data for an organisation or can be self-administered. [5]
Licensed copies of the MBI-HSS can be purchased via the Mind Garden website. [5]
The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) is another tool that has been used to measure burnout among aged care workers in Australian residential settings. [3, 6] It includes subscales on exhaustion and disengagement but not necessarily occupation specific. [8] The OLBI was found to have good validity and reliability properties. [8] It has 16 items and is scored using a 1-4 Likert scale (1 - strongly agree, 4 - strongly disagree). [9] Some questions are needed to be reverse coded before calculating the total score. [9] Higher scores indicate higher levels of burnout. [9] The OLBI can be administered by anyone collecting the data for an organisation or can be self-administered. [9]
The OLBI tool can be used free of charge and accessed via the Good Medicine website. [9]
The tools in this category have been used among international aged care workers.
The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) was developed as measure of burnout appropriate for both individual and group assessment. [11] The BAT includes subscales on core dimensions of burnout (BAT-C; exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment, emotional impairment) and secondary dimensions (BAT-S; psychological complaints, psychosomatic complaints). [11] The tool was found to have good validity and moderate to high reliability. [11] It has 33 items scored on a five-point Likert scale, from never to always. [11] Higher scores reflect higher levels of burnout. [11]The BAT was also translated into the Japanese language and used within international aged care settings. [12, 13]
Copies of the BAT can be used free of charge and available in the full paper. [11]
The Burnout Measure Short (BMS) version was developed for ease of use among practitioners and researchers measuring burnout. [17] It was used among international aged care workers. [14-16] The BMS was based on the original version of the Burnout Measure and include concepts of the person’s level of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. [17] It was found to be a valid and reliable measure of burnout. [17] It has 10 items and scored on a seven-point frequency scale, ranging from never to always. [17] Higher scores reflect higher levels of burnout. [17]
Copies of the BMS can be used free of charge and available in the full paper. [17]
The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) tool is a measure of burnout used among aged care workers internationally. [18-21] The inventory was inspired by the Burnout Measure (BM) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), where the core considerations are about fatigue and exhaustion. [8] The tool was found to have high validity and internal reliability. [22] It has three subscales that include personal burnout, work-related burnout, and client-related burnout. [23] It has 19 items and scored using a five-point Likert scale focused on the frequency (never to always) and the degree or magnitude (very low to very high degree) of experiencing the questions in the tool. [23] The higher the scores reflect higher burnout levels. [23]
The CBI tool can be used free of charge and accessed in Det Nationale Forskningscenter website. [23]
The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire Second Version (COPSOQ II) evaluates various psychosocial work conditions through its 127 items, categorised into 41 subscales. [22] In the context of aged care, the 'Personal Burnout' scale, consisting of four items, is employed to measure burnout among aged care workers internationally. [24-26] Responses to these items are rated on a scale of five options, ranging from 'Always' to 'Never/Hardly ever' or 'To a very large extent' to 'To a very small extent'. [22] The total scores for COPSOQ II ranges from 0 to 100 points, with higher scores indicative of elevated levels of burnout. [22] This instrument offers an understanding of the psychosocial factors contributing to burnout within the workplace. [22] The COPSOQ II was found to be a valid and reliable measure of burnout. [22]
Copies of the COPSOQ II can be used free of charge and available on the Det Nationale Forskningscenter for Arbejdsmiljø website. [27]
The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was also used among international aged care workers. [12, 13, 18, 28-70] The inventory was also translated into the Japanese [65-67, 69] and Dutch [71] languages. Details about MBI was reported in the above section ‘Burnout tools used among Australian aged care workers’.
The MBI-GS was used among international aged care workers. [14, 15, 72-77] The MBI General Survey (MBI-GS) is an adaptation of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) designed for occupations with minimal direct personal contact with service recipients. [5] It shifts the focus to the general performance of work, irrespective of specific job characteristics. [5] The three scales of the MBI-GS were modified and renamed as exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy. [5] Featuring 16 items, this survey used a 0-6 Likert scale (0 – never, 6 – everyday), where higher scores indicated an elevated risk of burnout. [5] The MBI-GS can be administered by anyone collecting the data for an organisation or can be self-administered and takes between 5 to 10 minutes to complete. [5] The MBI-GS was found to be a valid and reliable measure of burnout. [5]
Licensed copies of the MBI-GS can be purchased via the Mind Garden website. [5]
The MBI – Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) was also used among international aged care workers. [78-80] Details about MBI was reported in the above section ‘Burnout tools used among Australian aged care workers’.
The MBI-HSS for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSS (MP)) is a variation of the MBI-HSS, which was refined to accommodate specifically healthcare professionals [5] and was used among aged care workers internationally. [81, 82] It assessed the same core components of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and lack of personal accomplishment and comprised of the same items, Likert scale measures, administration method, scoring system, and psychometric properties as MBI-HSS. [5] The difference between the two inventories is the use of “patients” instead of “recipients” in MBI-HSS (MP). [5]
Licensed copies of the MBI-HSS (MP) can be purchased via the Mind Garden website. [5]
The Mini Z Survey 2.0 was used to measure burnout among primary care clinicians. [83] It consists of an 11-item survey that consists of two subscales, including supportive work environment and work pace Electronic Medical Record (EMR) stress. [83-85] The items are assessed using a 5-point Likert Scale and one question presented as an open-ended question. [84] Each question was measured in different forms as follows: (1 – strongly disagree, 5 – agree strongly), (1 – Hectic chaotic, 5 – Calm), (1 – Excessive, 5 – Minimal/none), (1 – Poor, 5 – Optimal). [84] Higher scores indicated higher burnout levels. [84] The tool was found to have good internal validity and moderate reliability. [85]
The Mini Z Survey 2.0 can be used free of charge and accessed in the Institute for Professional Worklife website. [84]
The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) was also used among international aged care workers. [86] Details about OLBI was reported in the above section ‘Burnout tools used among Australian aged care workers’.
The Professional Quality of Life (ProQoL) is a tool that assesses the wellbeing of compassionate professionals by gauging their levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. [87] Comprising 30 items measured on a Likert scale from 0 (never) to 5 (always), the questionnaire divides into three constructs, each with 10 items. [87] The sum of each subscale is compared against the following levels – low (≤22), average (23–41), and high (≥42) levels. [87] The burnout subscale was used among international aged care workers [88-90] and included measures of exhaustion, frustration, anger, and depression related to work. [87] Higher scores on the burnout scale refers to higher risk for burnout. [87] The tool was found to have good construct validity and reliability. [87, 91]
Copies of the ProQoL can be used free of charge and available on the NovoPsych website. [87]
The Stanford Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI) serves as a self-assessment tool for physicians, gauging their professional fulfillment (intrinsic positive rewards derived from work) and burnout (work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement) based on their experiences over the preceding two weeks. [83, 92] The tool was reported in a report that measured burnout among primary care physicians. [83] The PFI consists of 16-items and is scored using a 0 to 4 Likert Scale where 0 indicated not at all (true) and 4 indicated completely true or extremely. [92] The high scores reflect high burnout levels. [92] The PFI was found to have good reliability. [93]
The PFI can be used free of charge and accessed in full paper. [94]