Burnout Syndrome In Health Professionals

Health professionals can be exposed to stressful situations. They work to ensure the health of other people, and sometimes they work under pressure and with a lack of resources. They can be under a lot of stress, and therefore burnout syndrome in health professionals is not uncommon.

Working in healthcare can be a complicated task. Health professionals are always working to maintain or restore people’s health, and this can be very stressful. Sadly, there is nowadays a high incidence of burnout syndrome in health care professionals.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow placed health at the top of his hierarchy of needs alongside physiological needs such as sleep, nutrition, and breathing. In addition, he ranked physical security as number two, as part of the security needs group.

That is why healthcare is very important. Being unhealthy or thinking that you are, can trigger an alarm, a lack of security, or you may feel threatened.

Causes of burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals

Hospitals can be places filled with emotional scenes. Patients and their families can experience intense, emotional reactions that can also affect healthcare providers. Studies have shown that the primary stressors that affect health professionals are:

• Work schedule.
• Treatment of sick individuals who may experience crises.
• The feeling of a patient dying.
• Lawsuits against them.

Other medical professionals also appoint the following:

• To pass on bad news to people who are already in a difficult situation.
• The patient’s  high expectations of their doctor or health care provider. 
• Working counterclockwise in stressful situations.
• Workload.
• A lack of medical resources to treat their patients.

It is worth mentioning that their personal lives can also stress health professionals. The most common and well-known are the balance between work and life as well as the relationship between them. There are strategies to lower stress levels because stress can deter them from doing their job.

To reduce burnout syndrome in healthcare professionals

Burnout syndrome among health professionals can cause:

• Low job satisfaction.
• Deteriorated working environment.
• Low work quality.
• Poor attendance at work.
• Resignation from the profession.
• Passive-aggressive attitude towards patients.

It can improve this if one makes changes in the usual strategies, work hierarchies and methodologies. However, a health professional can develop some skills to deal with work stress.

Communication skills

A recent study on burnout in health professionals sought to investigate whether communication skills had an impact on them.

Finally, the study concluded that professionals who had better communication skills suffered less from emotional exhaustion. Furthermore , they had a greater sense of personal satisfaction from their work. 

Communication skills are not only for the benefit of the professional. They can also affect the patient positively. The communication between the healthcare provider and the patient is an essential part of the healing process. It gives them confidence in each other and enhances the clinical experience.

Therapeutic conditions

Studies show that the better the therapeutic condition, the better the clinical outcomes. This is caused by:

• A better diagnostic ability due to knowledge of psychosocial variables in patients.
• An increased placebo effect.
• A greater commitment to follow the treatment.
• A realistic choice of treatment by letting patients be involved in the decision-making process.

Emotional intelligence

There is a negative relationship between emotional intelligence and work stress. Most studies focus their analyzes on care. These results indicate that  the stronger the emotional intelligence, the less stress one suffers from. The results can also be used in other medical settings.

One way to improve emotional intelligence is through emotional regulation. How? Psychology considers emotional regulation to be a basic process in emotional intelligence. Through emotional regulation, one will be able to deal with one’s emotions in stressful situations.

In short, it is clear that health professionals are subject to a lot of stress. Many times, these professionals are subject to external factors. On the other hand, they can work on what they have the ability to control.