Which triad is commonly used to identify burnout in clinicians?

• A. Anxiety, Depression, Sleep Disturbance.
• B. Job Dissatisfaction, Low Morale, Fatigue.
• C. Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, Reduced Efficacy.
• D. Increased Productivity, Higher Energy, Motivation.

Answer: (C)

The concept being tested is the burnout triad used to identify burnout in clinicians: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment (often called reduced efficacy). Emotional exhaustion reflects feeling drained and unable to cope with work demands. Depersonalization is a detached, cynical attitude toward patients that serves as a protective shield against the emotional toll. Reduced personal accomplishment shows up as a sense of incompetence or ineffectiveness in one’s work, despite ongoing effort. Together, these three dimensions capture the core experience of burnout in healthcare settings and are central to instruments like the Maslach Burnout Inventory.

Other options don’t fit as well because they miss one or more defining elements. General symptoms like anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance can accompany burnout but aren’t the specific triad. A sequence of job dissatisfaction, low morale, and fatigue captures some distress but omits depersonalization and reduced efficacy. Describing increased productivity, higher energy, and motivation is essentially the opposite of burnout.