Job demands and resources shape burnout and well-being at work among hospital pharmacists in a national PLS-SEM study

Hospital pharmacists play a key role in patient safety, but their occupational health has been less studied than that of other healthcare professionals. This study assessed burnout and well-being at work among hospital pharmacists and examined their associations via the job demands-resources model. A national online survey was conducted between April and June 2022. The questionnaire assessed job demands, job resources, burnout and workplace well-being. The sample included 994 pharmacists (mean age = 44.3 years, 79.3% women). Overall, 32% of the participants reported high or very high levels of burnout symptoms, whereas mean well-being remained relatively high. Structural equation modeling indicated that job demands were more strongly associated with burnout (β = 0.627), whereas job resources were more strongly associated with workplace well-being (β = 0.628). The interaction between job demands and job resources was significant but small for burnout (β = − 0.061, p = 0.004, f 2 = 0.01), suggesting limited support for a buffering role of job resources. No moderating effect was observed for workplace well-being, providing no support for the boost hypothesis. Overall, the findings support distinct pathways to burnout and well-being. Interventions should focus on increasing job resources to mitigate the effects of excessive job demands and on reducing workload, particularly to limit work-family conflict.