The influence of hospital leadership support on burnout, psychological safety, and safety climate for US infection preventionists during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

Objective:To explore infection preventionists' perceptions of hospital leadership support for infection prevention and control programs during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and relationships with individual perceptions of burnout, psychological safety, and safety climate.Design:Cross-sectional survey, administered April through December 2021.Setting:Random sample of non-federal acute-care hospitals in the United States.Participants:Lead infection preventionists.Results:We received responses from 415 of 881 infection preventionists, representing a response rate of 47%. Among respondents, 64% reported very good to excellent hospital leadership support for their infection prevention and control program. However, 49% reported feeling burned out from their work. Also, & SIM;30% responded positively for all 7 psychological safety questions and were deemed to have high psychological safety, and 76% responded positively to the 2 safety climate questions and were deemed to have a high safety climate. Our results indicate an association between strong hospital leadership support and lower burnout (IRR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.50-0.74), higher perceptions of psychological safety (IRR, 3.20; 95% CI, 2.00-5.10), and a corresponding 1.2 increase in safety climate on an ascending Likert scale from 1 to 10 (& beta;, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.93-1.49).Conclusions:Our national survey provides evidence that hospital leadership support may have helped infection preventionists avoid burnout and increase perceptions of psychological safety and safety climate during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings aid in identifying factors that promote the well-being of infection preventionists and enhance the quality and safety of patient care.

Automated summary

This study surveyed infection preventionists' perceptions of hospital leadership support for infection prevention and control programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their relationships with burnout, psychological safety, and safety climate. The results showed an association between strong hospital leadership support and lower burnout, higher perceptions of psychological safety, and a better safety climate. These findings contribute to enhancing the well-being of infection preventionists and improving the quality and safety of patient care.