A Systematic Review On Occupational Burnout Among Healthcare Practitioners

Abstract

Entrance Burnout has become a growing concern in healthcare settings worldwide, with increasing attention to its impact on healthcare professionals and the overall quality of patient care. Burnout, as first defined by Freudenberger in 1974 and later conceptualized by Maslach and Jackson, is a psychological syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment. It usually occurs as a response to chronic work stress that has not been properly managed. This syndrome is particularly prevalent among healthcare professionals, who are often exposed to high workloads, emotional demands and difficult work environments.

Healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and other front-line healthcare workers, work in complex and high-risk environments where long hours, shift work and the emotional burden of caring for patients with Critical Illness contribute to high levels of stress. These conditions expose them to a higher risk of burnout than professionals in other sectors. Studies suggest that 30-50% of healthcare professionals experience burnout at some point in their career. This is itparticularly alarming because burnout is associated with harmful consequences not only for individual healthcare providers, but also for their patients and the healthcare system as a whole.

For healthcare professionals, burnout has been associated with a number of negative consequences, including increased levels of mental health problems (eg, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse), lower job satisfaction, and higher rates of higher staff turnover rates. In addition, the quality of patient care can be compromised, with burnout contributing to medical errors, decreased sensitivity, and decreased patient safety. At the organizational level, high burnout rates can result in significant economic costs, including increased absenteeism, decreased productivity, and the financial burden of recruiting and training new workers to replace those leaving the profession.

The growing recognition of burnout among healthcare professionals has prompted significant research efforts aimed at identifying causes, effects, and potential interventions. Many factors have been identified as contributing to burnout, including workplace demands, lack of organizational support, role conflicts and work-life imbalance. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated burnout rates, with frontline healthcare workers bearing the brunt of the workload and insufficient resources. The pandemic has highlighted the urgent need to better understand the prevalence of burnout and its contributing factors in order to develop effective prevention and intervention strategies.

Although numerous studies have examined burnout in health care settings, a comprehensive synthesis of the available evidence is needed to fully understand its extent, impact and the most effective strategies to mitigate it. Therefore, this systematic review aims to investigate the prevalence, risk factors and consequences of burnout among health professionals. It will also explore possible interventions and strategies that can be implemented to reduce burnout and improve the well-being of healthcare professionals and the quality of patient care.

By providing an in-depth analysis of existing research, this review aims to inform health care organizations, policy makers and practitioners about the main problems related to burnout and provide ideas about possible solutions that can alleviate this problem