Burnout Among Health Professionals

Working in the health sector is a tough and often complicated task. Healthcare professionals work to maintain and improve the health of their patients, which by its nature can be very stressful. Unfortunately, there are currently more and more cases of burnout syndrome among healthcare professionals.

As early as 1943, Abraham Maslow placed health at the base of his pyramid of needs, along with other physiological needs such as sleep, food, breathing, etc. He added physical security to the second level.

Therefore, it is clear that health is of vital importance. In his absence, one feels a lack of security and a sense of danger.

The causes of burnout among health professionals

The hospital environment is a space conducive to emotionally strong situations that involve patients, but also families and healthcare professionals. Thus, according to studies conducted in hospitals, the stressors among health professionals are mainly the following:

• Working hours
• Care of the sick, sometimes in crisis situations
• Feelings provoked by death
• Complaints from people dissatisfied with the care received

Additionally, when interviewing healthcare professionals, they also highlight the following:

• Difficulty delivering bad news to people who are already physically and emotionally fragile
• High level of patient demands on healthcare and medical professionals

• Obligation to work against the clock in situations of significant stress
• Work overload
• Lack of resources to be able to provide quality patient care

And that’s not all. It is also necessary to mention the interpersonal factors which are not specific to the field of health. Among the most frequent aspects, we can mention the balance between work and private life or the relations between the professionals themselves. For all these reasons, it is necessary to put in place strategies to limit the stress that hinders the work of doctors, nurses, nurses and other professionals in the sector.

Reduce the burnout rate among healthcare professionals

Burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals causes:

• Dissatisfaction at work
• Deterioration of the working environment
• Decreased quality of work
• Professional absenteeism
• Departure of some professionals
• Passive-aggressive behaviors on the part of patients

Changes should be made to methods, strategies and work structures in order to resolve these situations. However, the professional can also implement certain measures to reduce his level of stress at work. Among these, we can mention the points discussed below.

Communication skills

A recent study on burnout syndrome aimed to determine how the communication skills of the healthcare professional can alleviate their difficulties at work. The results of the study seem to indicate that professionals with good communication skills are less prone to burnout. In addition, they thrive more personally at work.

Furthermore, these communication skills do not only benefit the professional. They also have a positive influence on the patient. In fact, communication with the patient is an essential part of the care process. This gives them confidence and therefore improves the quality of medical practice.

The therapeutic relationship

Studies indicate that clinical outcomes increase when the therapeutic relationship between patient and physician is good. This can be explained by the following reasons:

• First of all, the possibility for the doctor to make a better diagnosis when he is aware of the psychosocial characteristics of the patient.

• Reinforcement of the placebo effect
• Greater patient adherence to treatment and diagnosis
• More relevant choices through patient participation in decision-making

Emotional intelligence

There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence and work stress. Most studies focus their analyzes on nursing care. However, the results can be extrapolated to other healthcare settings. They show that the more training in emotional intelligence, the less stress there is and the prevention of burnout is more effective.

One way to strengthen emotional intelligence is to  develop emotional regulation. Indeed, psychology considers it to be a basic process of emotional intelligence. Thus, through emotional regulation, a person is better able to control and manage their emotions in stressful situations.

To conclude , it is undeniable that healthcare professionals are often subjected to stressful situations. Although professionals cannot always influence certain external parameters individually, they can however adjust some of their internal variables in order to modulate their stress level.

Our thoughts

Bore-out syndrome is not the opposite of burnout, but another form of this professional exhaustion with devastating psychological consequences …