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Burnout in health professionals

from Psychology, health and illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2014

By
Christina Maslach
Edited by
Susan Ayers ,
Andrew Baum ,
Chris McManus ,
Stanton Newman ,
Kenneth Wallston ,
John Weinman  and
Robert West
Christina Maslach
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
Susan Ayers
Affiliation:
University of Sussex
Andrew Baum
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Chris McManus
Affiliation:
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
Stanton Newman
Affiliation:
University College and Middlesex School of Medicine
Kenneth Wallston
Affiliation:
Vanderbilt University School of Nursing
John Weinman
Affiliation:
United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's
Robert West
Affiliation:
St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London
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Summary

Burnout in health professionals

Burnout is a psychological syndrome that involves a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job (Maslach, 1982; Maslach et al., 2001). As such, it has been an issue of particular concern for human services occupations where: (a) the relationship between providers and recipients is central to the work, and (b) the provision of service, care, treatment or education can be a highly emotional experience. Within such occupations, the norms are clear, if not always stated explicitly: to be selfless and put others' needs first; to work long hours and do whatever it takes to help a client or patient or student; to go the extra mile and to give one's all. When such norms are combined with work settings that are high in demands and low in resources, then the risk for burnout is high (Maslach & Goldberg, 1998). All of these criteria certainly apply to health professions, which have long been recognized as stressful occupations (Cartwright, 1979). Indeed, much of the earliest research on burnout was conducted in the area of healthcare (Maslach & Jackson, 1982), and this focus has continued up to the present (Maslach & Ozer, 1995; Leiter & Maslach, 2000).

The multidimensional model of burnout

Burnout has been conceptualized as an individual stress experience that is embedded in a context of social relationships and thus involves the person's conception of both self and others (Maslach, 1998).

Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Psychology, Health and Medicine , pp. 427 - 430
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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References

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