TABLE 1.
Consistent work–environment items in AES (N = 11) and MHPS (N = 17), 2015–2018
| Survey, domain a | Item | Label |
|---|---|---|
| AES | ||
| Organizational climate | My workload is reasonable | Reasonable workload |
| High performing workplace | I am given a real opportunity to improve my skills | Skill building |
| People treat each other with respect in my workgroup | Respectful workgroup | |
| Supervisor sets challenging and yet attainable performance goals for workgroup | Attainable goals | |
| Members able to bring up problems and tough issues | Can bring up tough issues | |
| Disputes and conflicts are resolved fairly | Fair conflict resolution | |
| Managing risk | It is worthwhile in my workgroup to speak up because something will be done to address our concerns | Supervisor addresses concerns |
| Workgroup perceptions | I have the appropriate supplies, materials, and equipment to perform my job well | Have appropriate resources |
| Supervisors/team leaders understand and support employee family/personal life responsibilities in my work group | Supervisor supports personal life | |
| Supervisory behaviors | In my work unit, differences in performance are recognized in a meaningful way | Performance recognized |
| My supervisor does not engage in favoritism | No supervisor favoritism | |
| MHPS | ||
| Timely access to MH care | My workload is reasonable given my job | Reasonable workload |
| Some of my daily work could be done by clerical and/or clinical support staff b | Support staff could do daily work* | |
| Mental health staffing vacancies significantly affect patient care needs at my facility b | Staffing vacancies affect patient care* | |
| My available time for direct patient mental health care is reduced because of assigned collateral duties b | Collateral duties reduce time* | |
| I can schedule my patients as frequently as is clinically indicated | Flexible patient scheduling | |
| I am working at my highest level of licensure or scope | Working at highest level of licensure | |
| Quality of MH care | Through my work, I help veterans improve their lives | Improve veterans' lives |
| Care is well coordinated in veterans receiving mental health care at my facility | MH care well‐coordinated | |
| My facility offers best practices in mental health treatment | Facility offers best practices MH treatment | |
| Mental health care at my facility is Veteran‐centric and recovery‐oriented | Veteran‐centric and recovery‐oriented MH care | |
| Mental health integration with primary care is working well at my site | Primary care and MH integration working well | |
| My facility has mental health programs that are effective in helping veterans | Facility has effective programs for veterans | |
| Collaborative MH care | A spirit of cooperation and teamwork exists in my work group c | Workgroup has spirit of teamwork |
| My team regularly discusses meeting the requirements of the Uniform Mental Health Services Handbook | Discusses Uniform MH Services Handbook requirements | |
| I participate in discussions about performance measures and related opportunities for improvement | I participate in performance discussions | |
| My team regularly meets to plan improvements in patient access | Team plans patient access improvements | |
| I have been involved in actions to improve patient access in my clinics | I'm involved in improving patient access | |
Note: Bold variables indicate consistently significantly associated with burnout in the presented analyses.
Abbreviations: AES, All Employee Survey; MH, mental health; MHPS, Mental Health Provider Survey.
a
MHPS does not specify domains; Items have slightly different wording across years; our team used VHA guidance to group similar items. 28
b
Reverse coded.
c
“Members of my work group communicate well with each other” dropped from original list due to high correlation with spirit of teamwork variable.