Burnout in intensive and palliative care in Portugal

INTRODUCTION. Burnout is a syndrome of emotional exhaustion related to the job. It is characterized by the establishment of frosty relations with people and personal satisfaction and professional. Widely studied by psychologists and occupational health, this question acquires an ethical dimension that underlies the project ‘‘Who cares for those who care’’, Institute of Bioethics, Catholic University of Portugal. OBJECTIVES. 1. to study burnout incidence in doctors and nurses who work in palliative and intensive care units in Portugal, 2. to identify risk factors of burnout 3. to identify the protective factors and preventive strategies. METHODS. 1. Questionnaire of socio-demographic variables and life experiences in the workplace, 2. Maslach Burnout Inventory, 3. Interviews, 4. Observations. 1. and 2. Simple descriptive and correlational analysis with SPSS version 17.0 aˆ 3. and 4. grounded analysis, using the program QSR—NVivo 8 aˆ. RESULTS. A total of nine palliative care teams and 10 Portuguese intensive care units. The identified burnout levels represent a low risk of burnout in palliative care teams and the preliminary results for the intensive care units show a medium risk [S1]. There were no statistically significant differences depending on the different types of palliative care teams. The main risk factors at the level of palliative care are organizational in nature, and protective factors are based predominantly in the implementation of an ethic of care and all teams realize strategies for preventing burnout. In relation to intensive care units, there are differences in levels of burnout among physicians and nurses: nurses have a higher emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment; doctors greater depersonalization. The risk of burnout is higher for nurses OR 1:45, however, there is a statistically significant 95% (0837, 2834). 9% of 300 professionals studied show burnout, with 31% in burnout or high risk of burnout. CONCLUSIONS. These results highlight the importance of implementing active strategies to prevent burnout in palliative and intensive care units, allowing the preparation of an inter- vention program. With this program we aim to help professionals to develop their knowledge about burnout, namely it emotional and physical symptoms, and also the mediating agents. Thus, professionals will become able to identify warning signs, to do self-assessment, and also to minimize or eliminate the stressors factors, assuming preventive measures and coping mechanisms, through self-knowledge, life-styles and professional practices.