Teray Johnson Spotlight

Teray Johnson, Director, Data Automation and Transformation at LifeBridge Health (Baltimore, MD), is a valued HLNDV volunteer. Teray holds the position of Co-Chair of Career Development and serves on the Member Services Committee (since 2017) as Networking Subcommittee Lead (since 2021).  In her role as Networking Subcommittee lead, Teray works closely with Marley Alig, Member Services Committee – Events & Education Subcommittee Lead, and the HLNDV Events & Education Committee to organize and host HLNDV networking events in our region.  The most recent of these events was held at Riverwinds in West Deptford, NJ on June 20^th.  Additionally, Teray attends many of HLNDV’s community service events, having recently attended the Ronald McDonald House Breakfast in Delaware.

In April, Teray successfully defended her dissertation and earned her PhD in Data Sciences from Harrisburg University of Science & Technology.  She also holds her Master of Science (MS), Analytics, from Harrisburg University of Science & Technology, as well as her Master of Business Administration (MBA), with a specialization in Management Information Systems, from Rowan University.  Her PhD research project focused on organizational culture and burnout in health systems among administrative employees, a topic with little to no prior research.  To no surprise, interviews uncovered that “all administrative personnel had experienced burnout or stress, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Below is a summary of Teray’s research and findings, with a full-text version available upon request, tjohnson70904@gmail.com.

Investigations regarding experiences of burnout and perceptions of organizational culture among mainly administrative health systems’ personnel have not been conducted. The relationship between organizational culture and burnout has not been extensively studied in health systems. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate perceptions of organizational culture, experiences of burnout, and the relationship between both in health systems, particularly among administrative personnel. This mixed-methods study measures organizational culture and burnout using a 57-question organizational culture and burnout scale (n=67) and by conducting 23 semi-structured interviews.

The survey results show low burnout scores and positive perceptions of organizational culture. However, the interviews show that all administrative personnel had experienced burnout or stress, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, interviewees had mixed reactions to their organization’s cultures. The COVID-19 pandemic, workload, and volatility drove burnout. Communication, teamwork, leadership support, and the COVID-19 pandemic shaped perceptions of organizational culture. Organizational culture was shown to be 83% correlated with burnout among health systems’ employees. Recognizing employees, promoting a strong work/life balance, transparency, and self-care practices may alleviate burnout.

 Author: Jennifer Pawlowski, Healthcare Leadership Network of Delaware Valley, Co-Chair Sponsorship Committee