A 6-year latent profile analysis of teamwork climate, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion among healthcare workers at a Taiwanese medical center.

Publication date: Jun 24, 2026

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated burnout, attrition, and psychological disengagement without formal departure-termed “quiet quitting. ” Variable-centered methods obscure heterogeneity in how workers adapt to sustained adversity, and no prior study has applied Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) across the full pandemic-to-endemic transition. To identify latent profiles of healthcare workers based on teamwork climate, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion, and to describe their annual distribution across six survey waves (2020-2025) at a Taiwanese medical center. This repeated cross-sectional study analyzed 16,730 anonymous annual responses using the Taiwan Patient Safety Culture Survey. LPA was applied to teamwork climate, job satisfaction, and emotional exhaustion (reverse-coded). Multinomial logistic regression modeled survey year as continuous and categorical (2020 reference). Three profiles emerged: Balanced and Resilient (52. 6%), Dedicated but Exhausted (24. 2%), and Disengaged (“quiet quitter,” 23. 1%). The Dedicated profile peaked in 2021 (31. 2%) and declined; the Disengaged profile reached 27. 5% in 2023 (adjusted OR 1. 27, 95% CI 1. 10-1. 46, p = 0. 001). Female sex, nursing role, and 3-10-year tenure were each independently associated with disengagement. Combining low teamwork and satisfaction with preserved well-being, this profile admits two readings-commitment erosion or adaptive boundary-setting. At the population level, the Dedicated but Exhausted share declined while disengagement rose during the peak crisis and partially receded. Profile-specific responses-workload relief for the Exhausted, trust-rebuilding for the Disengaged-should address each demographic association independently. Longitudinal designs with behavioral outcomes are needed to test whether profile membership predicts subsequent organizational behavior.

Semantics

Original Article