Burnout in healthcare professionals working with patients with disorders of consciousness

OBJECTIVE: Healthcare and social professionals working with patients with chronic diseases such as disorders of consciousness (DOCs) are at risk for developing burnout, a stress-induced occupational syndrome. The aim of this study was to evaluate burnout among professionals working with patients with DOCs in post-acute and long-term care institutions. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Healthcare and social professionals were enrolled in 78 Italian institutions and completed the 22-item Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), which investigates emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA). RESULTS: 1149 questionnaires were returned. Respondents showed statistically lower level of burnout in EE, DP and PA compared to normative data of Italian healthcare practitioners (p< 0.001) and 41.7% showed high scores in at least one subscale. Working hours per week correlated positively with EE (r=0.150, p<0.001) and negatively with PA (r= -0.111, p=0.005). Mann-Whitney U and the Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to assess differences between groups. Nurses reported statistically significant higher levels of DP and lower levels of PA compared to other professionals. CONCLUSIONS: Professionals working with patients with DOCs complained moderate to low levels of burnout. A better understanding of the components of occupational stress may allow the development of a targeted strategy to prevent negative outcomes, enhance well-being of professionals who suffered burnout and, in turn, improve quality of life of patients. © 2013 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.