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Prevention of burnout: New perspectives
Abstract
Job burnout has long been recognized as a problem that leaves once-enthusiastic professionals feeling drained, cynical, and ineffective. This article proposes two new approaches to the prevention of burnout that focus on the interaction between personal and situational factors. The first approach, based on the Maslach multidimensional model, focuses on the exact opposite of burnout: increasing engagement with work by creating a better “fit” between the individual and the job. The second approach draws from the decision-making literature and reframes burnout in terms of how perceptions of the risk of burnout may lead to suboptimal choices that actually increase the likelihood of burning out. These new approaches provide a more direct strategy for preventing burnout than typical unidimensional “stress” models because these new approaches (1) specify criteria for evaluating outcomes and (2) focus attention on the relationship between the person and the situation rather than one or the other in isolation.
... Personal factors include knowledge and skills, creativity, and positive psychological attributes such as resilience, hope, optimism and self-efficacy [24]. Additionally, individual-level strategies that have been recommended for mitigating burnout include adaptive and task-oriented coping methods, changing work patterns, obtaining social support, practicing relaxation and mindfulness exercises, engaging in physical exercise, and developing better self-awareness [54,55]. These protective factors may theoretically prevent burnout from progressing to its negative psychological consequences as well. ...
Burnout, depression, anxiety, and stress are overlapping, yet distinct constructs. Mental health problems like depression and anxiety can occur as a consequence of burnout. Resilience, on the other hand, can potentially protect against burnout as well as its mental health consequences. This study aimed to explore the relationship between burnout, depression, anxiety, stress, and resilience among healthcare workers (HCWs), and to investigate the moderating role of resilience against the mental health correlates of burnout. For this purpose, using a cross-sectional design, 318 HCWs from various categories (nurses, midwives, doctors, etc.) recruited from hospital and community settings in two Districts of Sri Lanka during the COVID-19 pandemic were surveyed using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI), Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the Brief Resilience Scale. CBI assessed three domains: personal burnout, work burnout and client burnout. The prevalence of personal, work, and client burnout were 26.4%, 12.9%, and 7.9%, respectively. The prevalence of low, normal, and high resilience was 25.6%, 66.2%, and 8.6%, respectively. All three burnout domains correlated positively with depression, anxiety, and stress. Resilience correlated inversely with all burnout domains and DASS-21 scores. In moderator analysis, higher levels of resilience dampened the effects of client burnout on anxiety, but resilience moderated the psychological consequences of personal burnout in the opposite direction. Our findings indicate notable rates of burnout among Sri Lankan HCWs, and suggest a possible buffering role of resilience against burnout and its psychological consequences.
... Burnout is a workplace phenomenon characterized by feeling emotionally drained, disconnected, depersonalized, and unengaged [93]. "Workplace" is a general term applied to work of any kind; students' "workplace" is their school, and their "job" is academics [94]. ...
Personal resilience is known to decline during medical school without targeted intervention. While causal research remains limited, there is a clear correlation between diminished resilience and the heightened stress and anxiety that medical students often experience throughout their training. This chapter explores the various approaches that have been tested to address resilience among medical students, including curricular, extracurricular, preclinical, and clinical interventions, as well as those guided by mental health professionals. A critical examination of the concept of personal resilience is conducted, and personal resilience as a solution to the wider issues within healthcare that are influencing medical trainee burnout is challenged. Research on how Generation Z navigates the challenges of medical school is presented with the purpose of informing medical faculty and institutions for the future of medical education. Finally, sustainable and comprehensive strategies for fostering environments that support and strengthen resilience in medical students are proposed.
Background
Burnout poses a significant occupational risk to mental health professionals (MHPs), compromising the quality of care provided to clients and eroding clinicians’ overall well-being. There is a dearth of studies examining burnout in MHPs within the Indian context. The unique challenges faced by Indian MHPs necessitate localised research. Context-specific research is vital for grasping the complexities of burnout among Indian MHPs.
Purpose
The present study intends to explore three research questions: (a) How do MHPs experience burnout in Indian setting? (b) What are the factors that contribute to burnout among MHPs? (c) What are the strategies used by MHPs to cope with burnout?
Methods
To develop an insight about these research questions, the researchers used a semi-structured interview schedule and interviewed eight MHPs (five females and three males; age range: 28–50 years). After acquiring consent from each participant, the interview was audio-recorded and manually transcribed by the researchers. Data were analysed using thematic analysis based on the conceptualisation given by Braun and Clarke.
Results
Three major themes were developed: (a) experiences of burnout: being in a bind, (b) facets of burnout: candle burning from both sides and (c) protective factors of burnout: a ray of hope, along with subsequent sub-themes and minor themes.
Conclusion
The study significantly enhances the burnout literature by providing contextualised accounts of its effects on diverse MHPs in India. Through in-depth explorations, it sheds new light on burnout among Indian MHPs, sharing their personal stories and offering a rich tapestry of experiences. The data underscore the critical need for prioritising practitioner well-being.
Beyond informing human resources (HR) policies and practices, information gleaned from predictive analytics, visualized via dashboards, can increase awareness and prompt employee and management actions based on identified variables often related to intent to leave and employee wellness. While considerable research, relevant measurements, and tools are available within the field of human resource management that focus on measuring retention and mitigating turnover, there is minimal application of such tools in higher education. Analytics, particularly those with predictive abilities, can contribute to an increased understanding and improvement in the retention of the education workforce.
Higher education institutions have the potential to proactively impact the health and well-being of employees and foster a culture of wellness. For example, risk stratification using objective and subjective data can be utilized to assign risk levels to employees. In addition, risk visualized through real-time dashboards alerts management to implement early interventions that mitigate burnout and other wellness concerns for at-risk employees.
This article provides an overview of established metrics, explores analytical system design, and outlines practices related to the creation and implementation of a dashboard model that can provide at-a-glance views and risk stratification of key performance and predictive indicators (KPIs) (e.g., compensation data, workload, wellness, etc.) of employees’ intent to leave and overall wellness. This proactive approach will allow employees and management to collaborate to enable early recognition and engagement, improve educator retention, and minimize intent to leave.
Bu çalışmada sağlık çalışanlarında mesleki tükenme ile mesleki tükenme üzerine yapılan çalışmaların yıllar içinde gösterdiği değişimin incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Bu amaçla mevcut literatürün özetlenerek, literatürdeki eğilimlerin ve boşlukların ortaya konulması hedeflenmiştir. Bu bağlamda “Web of Science” veri tabanı kullanılarak 1998-2022 yılları arasında mesleki tükenme üzerine yapılan ve sağlık çalışanlarını konu alan çalışmalar araştırmaya dahil edilmiştir. Araştırmaya dahil edilen çalışmaların bibliyometrik profilleri ve görsel haritalama bulgularına erişebilmek için VOSviewer programından yararlanılmıştır. Araştırma, sağlık çalışanları özelinde mesleki tükenmişlik kavramı üzerine en üretken yazarları, en çok yayın yapan kurumları, en çok atıf alan yazarları ve yazarlar arasındaki iş birliklerini göstermektedir. Anahtar sözcük analizleri ile sağlık çalışanlarında mesleki tükenme üzerinde iletişim, davranış, palyatif bakım, yaşam sonu bakım, Covid-19, hemşirelik uygulamaları kavramlarının ön plana çıktığı belirlenmiştir. 2018 ve sonrası yayınlarda teletıp, kalite iyileştirme, dijitalleşme, depresyon, kanıt temelli uygulamalar ve hasta güvenliği kavramlarının önem kazandığı görülmüştür. Ulaşılan sonuçlar, sağlık çalışanlarında mesleki tükenme üzerinde hangi konuların önem kazandığının belirlenmesi ve bu konuda çalışacak araştırmacılara yol göstermesi açısından önemlidir.
Using an exploratory design, this three-phased research study investigated the effectiveness of a manualized nonhuman-animal care compassion fatigue training module on the compassion fatigue symptoms of volunteer participants as measured by three separate instruments. A total of fifty-seven nonhuman-animal care professionals (NACP) attended three trainings. The results indicate that the training-as-treatment intervention had a statistically significant effect upon the negative symptoms of the nonhuman-animal care professionals who were participants of this study, including trait anxiety. Data analysis indicated an inverse relationship among working directly with nonhuman animals and the variables of age and working directly with the public. The mean scores for the Pro-QOL burnout and trauma subscales and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory subscales decreased, all indicating improvement. The mean burnout scores were unchanged, compassion satisfaction scores increased, and the traumatic stress scores decreased. The results indicated that all mean scores were statistically significant and reflected the same directional changes.
Teachers play a crucial role in shaping the educational landscape and overall societal development. However, increasing demands, heavy workloads, and challenging work environments often lead to significant stress among educators. This research paper explores the concept of teacher stress, its causes, and the various types of stress experienced by teachers, including eustress, distress, chronic stress, hyper-stress, hypo-stress, and acute stress. The study identifies key stressors such as administrative pressures, curriculum changes, student behavior, and lack of job autonomy. Furthermore, the paper discusses stress management strategies that teachers can adopt, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exercise, relaxation techniques, self-talk, and social support. By understanding and addressing stress in the teaching profession, educational institutions can create a healthier work environment, ultimately enhancing teacher performance and student learning outcomes.
Background: Emotional exhaustion, a central component of burnout syndrome, affects social workers due to adverse work factors such as excessive workload, work–family conflict, and a lack of social support. The job demands–resources and conservation of resources models explain how chronic stress influences these professionals. Methods: A systematic review was carried out using the recommendations of the PRISMA guidelines as a reference for the selection and identification of studies and the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, registering the protocol in PROSPERO. Cross-sectional studies published from 1 January 2019 to 30 September 2024 were included and five main databases―Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, Medline, and PsycInfo—were used to search for specific studies written in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Results: Of 361 initial records, 21 studies involving more than 24,000 social workers from diverse global settings were analyzed. The main risk factors identified were workload, work–family conflict, and work victimization. Resilience, self-care, and social support were highlighted as protective factors. Emotional exhaustion was associated with low job satisfaction, turnover intention, and mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Conclusions: Emotional burnout requires specific strategies, such as work flexibility, wellness programs, and organizational support. These measures can mitigate its impact, improving work–life balance and fostering resilience.
Background
Burnout is a condition of mental, emotional, and physical enervation affecting personnel working in human services and has been reported high among neurosurgical doctors. However, previous burnout reports are based on low response rates and measured by the Maslach Burnout inventory, which for several reasons has proven problematic. Burnout has not previously been investigated among neurosurgical doctors in Denmark. With this study we measure the prevalence of burnout among neurosurgical doctors in Denmark with sustainable methodology and a clinically relevant burnout interpretation.
Methods
Burnout was measured among neurosurgical doctors in Denmark using the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) consisting of three subscales measuring personal burnout, work-related burnout and patient-related burnout. To gain better understanding of factors contributing to burnout, the psychosocial working conditions and moral distress was measured using the Danish Psychosocial Work Environment Questionnaire (DPQ) and a questionnaire of eight items previously used to assess moral distress.
Results
With 73 responders and a response rate of 90.1%, clinically relevant burnout was reported in 27.4% in personal burnout, 16.5% in work-related burnout and 5.5% in patient-related burnout. Cohort members with children living at home experienced a significant higher degree of burnout regarding work-related burnout and patient-related burnout.
Within the DPQ domains of ‘Demands at work’ and ‘Work organization and job content’, several moderate to strong correlations were observed between specific sub-dimensions and both personal and work-related burnout. Higher levels of the domain ‘Interpersonal relations’ was moderately correlated with lower levels of both personal and work-related burnout. In the testing of moral distress, only 2 responders (2.7%) scored as ‘somewhat injured’.
Conclusion
Neurosurgical doctors in Denmark report relatively low prevalence of clinically relevant burnout. However, doctors with children living at home exhibited higher levels of work- and patient-related burnout. Our findings highlight the psychosocial work environment as a significant factor contributing to burnout, while moral distress appears to have a limited impact on the development of burnout in the study population.
Three groups of subjects were asked to judge the probability that they and several target others (a friend, an acquaintance, a parent, a child) would experience various risks. Subjects were middle-class adults, their teenage children, and high-risk adolescents from treatment homes. All three groups saw themselves as facing somewhat less risk than the target others. However, this perception of relative invulnerability was no more pronounced for adolescents than for adults. Indeed, the parents were viewed as less vulnerable than their teenage children by both the adults and those teens. These results are consistent with others showing small differences in the cognitive decision-making processes of adolescents and adults. Underestimating teens' competence can mean misdiagnosing the sources of their risk behaviors, denying them deserved freedoms, and failing to provide needed assistance.
It has been almost twenty years since the term "burnout" first appeared in the psychological literature. The phenomenon that was portrayed in those early articles had not been entirely unknown, but had been rarely acknowledged or even openly discussed. In some occupations, it was almost a taboo topic, because it was considered tantamount to admitting that at times professionals can (and do) act "unprofessionally." The reaction of many people was to deny that such a phenomenon existed, or, if it did exist, to attribute it to a very small (but clearly mentally disturbed) minority. This response made it difficult, at first, for any work on burnout to be taken seriously. However, after the initial articles were published, there was a major shift in opinion. Professionals in the human services gave substantial support to both the validity of the phenomenon and its significance as an occupational hazard. Once burnout was acknowledged as a legitimate issue, it began to attract the attention of various researchers. Our knowledge and understanding of burnout have grown dramatically since that shaky beginning. Burnout is now recognized as an important social problem. There has been much discussion and debate about the phenomenon, its causes and consequences. As these ideas about burnout have proliferated, so have the number of empirical research studies to test these ideas. We can now begin to speak of a "body of work" about burnout, much of which is reviewed and cited within the current volume. This work is now viewed as a legitimate and worthy enterprise that has the potential to yield both scholarly gains and practical solutions. What I would like to do in this chapter is give a personal perspective on the concept of burnout. Having been one of the early "pioneers" in this field, I have the advantage of a long-term viewpoint that covers the twenty years from the birth of burnout to its present proliferation. Furthermore, because my research was among the earliest, it has had an impact on the development of the field. In particular, my definition of burnout, and my measure to assess it (Maslach Burnout Inventory; MBI) have been adopted by many researchers and have thus influenced subsequent theorizing and research. My work has also been the point of departure for various critiques. Thus, for better or for worse, my perspective on burnout has played a part in framing the field, and so it seemed appropriate to articulate that viewpoint within this volume. In presenting this perspective, however, I do not intend to simply give a summary statement of ideas that I have discussed elsewhere. Rather, I want to provide a retrospective review and analysis of why those ideas developed in the ways that they did. Looking back on my work, with the hindsight of twenty years, I can see more clearly how my research path was shaped by both choice and chance. The shape of that path has had some impact on what questions have been asked about burnout (and what have not), as well as on the manner in which 2 answers have been sought. A better understanding of the characteristics of that path will, I think, provide some insights into our current state of knowledge and debate about burnout. In some sense, this retrospective review marks a return to my research roots. The reexamination of my initial thinking about burnout, and an analysis of how that has developed and changed over the years, has led me to renew my focus on the core concept of social relationships. I find it appropriately symbolic that this return to my research roots occurred within the context of a return to my ancestral roots. The 1990 burnout conference that inspired this rethinking took place in southern Poland, from which each of my paternal grandparents, Michael Maslach and Anna Pszczolkowska, emigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. Thus, my travel to Krakow had great significance for me, at both personal and professional levels.
Burnout is a unique type of stress syndrome, characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment. Although burnout has been shown to be potentially very costly in the helping professions, such as nursing, education, and social work, little work has been done thus far to establish its generalizability to industry. This article reviews the literature on burnout and provides a conceptual framework designed to improve the understanding of burnout. Propositions are presented that are aimed at clarifying the dynamics of burnout, including determinants of and interrelationships among the three burnout components.
The present paper reviews job stress/burnout literature relative to a number of human service professions, including education, counseling, and medicine. Issues and factors believed to be correlated with burnout are discussed. Because burnout is seen multidimensional, it is proposed that approaches to its treatment and prevention should also be holistic to maximize points of concern addressed. Moreover, such an approach should also be systematic to allow for data acquisition and program evaluation. Assumptions and procedures of a systematic intervention program, designed to impart preventive coping skills, are described, emphasizing the flexibility and adaptability to different settings and professional groups.
The widespread desire to know something about health and disease has encouraged the publication, over a period of many years, of numerous popular books which provide the general public with information about the body, its disorders, and its care. Increasing awareness of the varieties of mental disorders, and the growing respectability of psychiatric illness and treatment, have led to a corresponding production of magazine articles and popular books about mental health. This trend has perhaps reached a new high in the recent publication of a six-volume encyclopedia.Albert Deutsch, well-known for his popular writing and his crusading on behalf of the mentally ill, was selected as editor in chief of this ambitious project. Before his sudden death in 1961 he had succeeded in preparing an outline and had selected many contributors. Helen Fishman, as executive editor, completed the work with the guidance of a board of 11 distinguished consultants. One