Date of Award
5-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair/Advisor
Thomas Britt
Committee Member
Robert Sinclair
Committee Member
Patrick Rosopa
Abstract
Emergency physicians (EPs) face high rates of burnout. In addition to well-known stressors, such as fatiguing shift work schedules and intense emotional and cognitive demands faced during clinical shifts, many EPs must also attend to certain outside-of-shift duties (OSDs)–extra-clinical role responsibilities that are expected but not always formally tracked or compensated. These duties often occur during times when EPs are expected to rest and recover from shift work. Despite concerns surrounding burnout in emergency medicine and beliefs among EPs that OSDs contribute to burnout, the effects of OSDs have rarely been studied. Using daily and weekly surveys across 28 days, objective crowding metrics, and administrative shift data, the present study examined how emergency department job demands influence fatigue and recovery among EPs (N= 46). Higher work demands, including shift hours, crowding and OSDs, were expected to relate to lower recovery, and in turn greater weekly fatigue. Additionally, it was hypothesized that the relationship between work demands and recovery would be weaker for EPs with greater perceived ability to recover. Linear mixed models were utilized to test the study hypotheses. Findings demonstrated that shift hours predicted both recovery and fatigue, with recovery mediating the relationship. OSDs were directly associated with greater fatigue but not reduced recovery and ED crowding showed no significant effects. While ability to recover influenced recovery, it did not significantly moderate the relationship between work demands and recovery. By examining the influences of OSDs on EP fatigue and recovery, this study provides insight into a critical but often overlooked source of workload in emergency medicine. Future studies should continue to build on research in this domain by examining variables that buffer the effects of OSDs and utilizing robust methodologies to gain more nuanced insights into how OSDs affect EP fatigue.
Recommended Citation
Meyer, Sarah, "Hidden Workload in Emergency Medicine: Examining the Role of Outside-Of-Shift Duties in Emergency Physician Fatigue" (2026). All Theses. 4687.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_theses/4687