O3305: A Multi-center Survey of Pediatric and Neonatal Transport Teams to Assess Post-pandemic Vacancies and Burnout

Background: During the COVID pandemic, inter-facility pediatric and neonatal transport teams had more vacancies than in the previous years and reported difficulty in filling those positions (1). This study, using a survey design documents the post pandemic state of vacancies for pediatric and neonatal transport teams and attempts to determine the impact of burnout on this highly trained, niche workforce.

Methods: Data for this study came from a short cross-sectional survey distributed to members of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Transport Medicine via its ListServe. The study was conducted using the platform Qualtrics from October 1st through November 1st 2023.

Results: We had a 49% response rate (2). Post-pandemic twenty-three respondents (61%) report having more vacancies than previous years, with only two respondents (4.5%) with no staff shortages. Twenty-four respondents (55%) have altered their team composition on transports to compensate for the unfilled vacancies. Twenty-five respondents (69%) reported training their members to recognize burnout and fatigue (p-value 0.02) and sixteen (55%) reported losing members to burnout. The survey found that while several strategies were utilized for resilience promotion, thirty four (24%) of the respondents favored post-event debriefing sessions.

Conclusion: Our study shows that pediatric and neonatal transport teams continue with unfilled vacancies post-pandemic. These unfilled vacancies have led many teams to alter their team composition. To prevent further vacancies and preserve team composition, training and recognition of burnout and fatigue among team members becomes imperative. While most places have mechanisms to reduce the risks of burnout and fatigue among team members, there continues to be a need for training to recognize when it is occurring and resilience promotion strategies to prevent further loss of team members.

References:
1) Dahm P, Kink R, Stroud M, Dhar A. A Multicenter Survey of Pediatric-Neonatal Transport Teams in the United States to Assess the Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Staffing. Air Med J. 2023 May-Jun;42(3):196-200.
2) Stroud M, Franscesca F. Miquel-Verges , Ranna A. Rozenfeld Robert G. Holcomb, Clare C. Brown , Keith Meyer The State of Neonatal and Pediatric Interfacility transport During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic. Air Med J 2021 Sept-Oct ; 40 (5):331-336