Knowledge mapping of job burnout and satisfaction of medical staff and a cross-sectional investigation of county-level hospitals in Southern China

Background: Job burnout is a worldwide public health problem that has rarely been addressed among rural medical staff, particularly in county-level hospitals. Hence, we conducted a bibliometric study to gain global insights and research trends and a cross-sectional study to assess the current situation among medical staff of county-level hospitals in Southern China. By conducting these studies, we aim to identify factors associated with burnout among medical staff of county-level hospitals in China and provide recommendations for improvement. Methods: Relevant literature on job burnout among medical personnel was searched using the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). CiteSpace was employed for an in-depth cluster analysis to determine research trends and identify the study population. Subsequently, a cross-sectional survey was randomly conducted in three county-level hospitals in Hunan Province of Southern China. Job burnout and satisfaction were assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory MBI-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) and Job Satisfaction Questionnaire in a total of 362 valid questionnaires collected. The influence factors of the prevalence of job burnout were investigated using logistic regression. Results: In this bibliometric study, 1626 articles were retrieved from 1999 to 2022. China lags behind the United States (US) in both the number and quality of publications in the field of medical staff burnout compared with the US. However, there is a lack of comparative research on job burnout across different job types. County-level medical staff articles are more in line with research hotspots in the field. In total, 362 valid questionnaires were obtained. The total incidence of job burnout among rural medical staff was 27.3 %. Nurses (p < 0.01, OR = 5.95), doctors (p < 0.01, OR = 6.43), and those with administrative jobs (p < 0.01, OR = 7.79) were more likely to experience burnout than those with technical jobs. Medical staff aged 40 -49 years (p < 0.01, OR = 0.22) and 50 -59 years (p < 0.05, OR = 0.14) were less likely to experience burnout than those aged 20 -29 years. Job rewards satisfaction showed a positive correlation with job burnout (p < 0.01, OR = 1.32), but negative correlations with personal development satisfaction (p < 0.05, OR = 0.81) and work internal environment satisfaction (p < 0.05, OR = 0.81). Conclusion: Better working environments, more accessible resources, and higher job rewards contribute to job satisfaction and reduce job burnout among the medical staff of county-level hospitals in China.