Learning climate positively influences residents' work-related well-being.

An optimal learning climate is crucial for the quality of residency training and may also improve residents' well-being and empathy. We investigated the associations of learning climate with residents' work-related well-being. A multicenter questionnaire study was performed among 271 surgery and gynaecology residents in 21 training programs from September 2012 to February 2013. Residents were asked to complete work-related well-being measurements: work engagement (Utrecht Work Engagement Scale), job and specialty satisfaction (measures from Physician Worklife Study), and physician empathy (Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy). The Dutch Residency Educational Climate Test was used to evaluate learning climate. Multivariate adjusted linear regression analyses were used to estimate associations of learning climate with work-related well-being measures. Well-being measures were completed by 144 residents (53.1%). Learning climate was evaluated by 193 residents, yielding 9.2 evaluations per training program on average. Overall learning climate score was positively associated with work engagement [regression coefficient b = 0.58; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18-0.98; p = 0.004] and job satisfaction (b = 0.80; 95% CI 0.48-1.13; p < 0.001). No associations were found between learning climate and empathy and specialty satisfaction. Residents' work engagement and job satisfaction are positively related to the learning climate and may be further enhanced by improved learning climates of training programs.

Job Resources, Physician Work Engagement, and Patient Care Experience in an Academic Medical Setting.

PURPOSE: Physician work engagement is associated with better work performance and fewer medical errors; however, whether work-engaged physicians perform better from the patient perspective is unknown. Although availability of job resources (autonomy, colleague support, participation in decision making, opportunities for learning) bolster work engagement, this relationship is understudied among physicians. This study investigated associations of physician work engagement with patient care experience and job resources in an academic setting. METHOD: The authors collected patient care experience evaluations, using nine validated items from the Dutch Consumer Quality index in two academic hospitals (April 2014 to April 2015). Physicians reported job resources and work engagement using, respectively, the validated Questionnaire on Experience and Evaluation of Work and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. The authors conducted multivariate adjusted mixed linear model and linear regression analyses. RESULTS: Of the 9,802 eligible patients and 238 eligible physicians, respectively, 4,573 (47%) and 185 (78%) participated. Physician work engagement was not associated with patient care experience (B = 0.01; 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.02 to 0.03; P = .669). However, learning opportunities (B = 0.28; 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.52; P = .019) and autonomy (B = 0.31; 95% CI = 0.10 to 0.51; P = .004) were positively associated with work engagement. CONCLUSIONS: Higher physician work engagement did not translate into better patient care experience. Patient experience may benefit from physicians who deliver stable quality under varying levels of work engagement. From the physicians' perspective, autonomy and learning opportunities could safeguard their work engagement.