Volpe U, Luciano M, Palumbo C, Sampogna G, Del Vecchio V, Fiorillo A
Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples SUN, Naples, Italy.
J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2014;21(9):774-81. doi: 10.1111/jpm.12137. Epub 2014 Feb 20.
Burnout is a stress-related syndrome that often affects mental health professionals (MHPs) and may have serious consequences on personal well-being as well as on the quality of provided psychiatric care. Established literature shows a high risk to develop burnout among MHPs. Few data are available on the incidence and on the clinical implications of the burnout syndrome in the early phases of MHP professional career. We confirmed the presence of burnout among early career MHPs: early career psychiatrists showed a lower sense of personal accomplishment, while non-medical MHPs tended to have more depersonalization and suffered from higher levels of depression. Specific programmes to identify the presence of the burnout syndrome and to cope with it should be taught within mental health training curricula. Burnout is a stress-related syndrome that often affects professionals working in emotionally loaded and highly interpersonal environments. Mental health professionals (MHPs) are long known to be at high risk to develop the burnout syndrome, but this has rarely been investigated in professionals in an early phase of career. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the presence of the burnout syndrome and of depressive symptoms among early career psychiatrists and 'non-medical' MHPs. One hundred MHPs (including 50 psychiatrists and 50 non-medical MHPs) were screened for the presence of burnout and depression, with the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory - revised, respectively. The relationships of burnout with socio-demographical and professional characteristics were also explored. We confirmed the presence of burnout among both groups of early career MHPs, but psychiatrists had a significantly higher degree of emotional exhaustion and a lower sense of personal accomplishment, while non-medical MHPs adopted more frequently depersonalization as a coping strategy and had higher scores for depression, which is associated with higher level of burnout. The risk of developing burnout should be properly addressed in training curricula and strategies to overcome it should be systematically taught, in order to promote personal well-being and efficient team work in mental health settings.
职业倦怠是一种与压力相关的综合征，常影响心理健康专业人员（MHP），可能对个人幸福感以及所提供的精神科护理质量产生严重后果。现有文献表明，MHP中出现职业倦怠的风险很高。关于MHP职业生涯早期阶段职业倦怠综合征的发病率及临床意义的数据很少。我们证实了早期职业MHP中存在职业倦怠：早期职业精神科医生的个人成就感较低，而非医学MHP往往更多地出现去个性化，且抑郁程度更高。应在心理健康培训课程中教授识别职业倦怠综合征并应对它的具体方案。职业倦怠是一种与压力相关的综合征，常影响在情感负担重且人际互动频繁的环境中工作的专业人员。长期以来，人们都知道心理健康专业人员（MHP）患职业倦怠综合征的风险很高，但在职业生涯早期的专业人员中，这很少得到研究。本研究的目的是评估早期职业精神科医生和“非医学”MHP中职业倦怠综合征及抑郁症状的存在情况。分别使用马氏职业倦怠量表和修订版贝克抑郁量表对100名MHP（包括50名精神科医生和50名非医学MHP）进行职业倦怠和抑郁筛查。还探讨了职业倦怠与社会人口学及专业特征之间的关系。我们证实两组早期职业MHP中均存在职业倦怠，但精神科医生的情感耗竭程度明显更高，个人成就感更低，而非医学MHP更频繁地采用去个性化作为应对策略，且抑郁得分更高，这与更高水平的职业倦怠相关。在培训课程中应适当解决职业倦怠的风险问题，并应系统地教授克服职业倦怠的策略，以促进心理健康环境中的个人幸福感和高效团队协作。
