Stress,Burnout, and Resilience: Are Teachers at Risk?

It is increasingly common to find alarming news related to tragic events occurring in schools around the world. Being able to deal with these situations without getting hurt is a task not suitable for everyone. In general, teachers are the ones who must deal with this type of situation in addition to other daily problems that appear in any classroom that make the level of stress to which they are subjected can become dangerous. This research aims to know the current situation of teachers in a region of southeastern Spain in terms of their level of work stress, resilience, and other associated variables, for which an ex post facto quantitative approach study was designed. For this purpose, an ad hoc sociodemographic questionnaire, and questions based on the Teaching and Learning International Survey of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale were applied. The participating sample consisted of 470 teachers. The main findings were that 6% of teachers had burnout (high emotional exhaustion, high cynicism, and low professional effectiveness simultaneously). Resilience correlated inversely with stress, emotional exhaustion, cynicism, excessive teaching, and difficulty maintaining classroom discipline. In conclusion, knowing the needs of teachers allows us to reflect on what kind of prevention and intervention programs are necessary to improve the well-being of teachers and thus improve the quality of education.     

高校医护人员职业倦怠调查情况分析

目的 调查重庆市高校医护人员职业倦怠现状,为高校管理者采取有效措施预防和降低医护人员职业倦怠以及提高医疗质量提供参考。方法 采用问卷调查的方式对重庆市672名高校医护人员进行调查,数据用spss12．0统计软件进行统计。结果医护人员在职业倦怠3个维度情感耗竭、情感疏远、个人成就感降低得分分别为（15．43±7．13）分,（15．80±8．21）分,（35．59±9．39）分,职业、性别、职称、工作年限在职业倦怠3个维度的差异均无统计学意义（p〉0．05）。结论 重庆市高校医护人员职业倦怠程度轻,职业、性别、职称、工作年限对职业倦怠无影响。     

Burnout in surgeons: a ticking time bomb?

Burnout refers to a syndrome of depersonalisation, emotional exhaustion and feelings of reduced achievement. Early studies suggested 40% of surgeons are affected by burnout. However, a post-pandemic GMC report demonstrates a significant increase in its incidence. Burnout is associated with direct adverse clinical outcomes, personal suffering and increased work-force attrition. There are several individual and organizational factors that contribute to burnout and, despite it being well recognized, its prevalence in healthcare is continuing to increase. We examine the reasons why surgeons may be particularly vulnerable to this syndrome, both as individuals and from the environment in which they practise. We discuss why burnout is so important in the current climate, review potential protective strategies and outline why this is imperative for the future of surgery.     

COVID-19 pandemic increases the occurrence of nursing burnout syndrome: an interrupted time-series analysis of preliminary data from 38 countries

AimTo evaluate the trends in nursing burnout rates before and during the coronavirus 2019 restrictions.MethodMeta-analysis was used to extract the data on global nursing burnout from 1 Jan. 2010–15 Dec. 2022. An interrupted time-series analysis using segmented ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models was used to explore if the nursing burnout were affected by the epidemic. Newey-West standard error was used to adjust for autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity.ResultsBefore the epidemic (April 2020), the nursing burnout rate rose with 0.0007497 (95% CI: 0.0000316, 0.0014677, t = 2.07, P = 0.041) per month. The trend of nursing burnout rate has increased by 0.0231042 (95 CI%:0.0086818, 0.0375266, t = 3.18, P = 0.002). The increasing trend of nursing burnout rate after the COVID-19 restrictions is 0.0007497 + 0.0231042 = 0.0238539 per month.ConclusionThe study indicated that the Covid-19 restrictions had an impact on nursing burnout, increasing the occurrence of nursing burnout syndrome.     

The relationship between medical students’ empathy and burnout levels by gender and study years

ObjectiveTo investigate the multifaceted factors affecting empathy in medical students.Methods1293 medical students from 15 South Korean medical schools participated in an online survey. Affective empathy was measured with the ‘empathy concern’ and ‘personal distress’ dimensions from the Interpersonal Reactivity Index for Medical Students (IRI-MS). Cognitive empathy was assessed with IRI-MS’ ‘perspective taking’ and Jefferson Scales for Physician Empathy for Student (JSPE-S). Maslach Burnout Inventory for Medical Students (MBI-MS) assessed the burnout levels of the participants.ResultsA significant gender difference in affective and cognitive empathy was found using JSPE-S. Different patterns were seen in the empathy dimensions between the study years and genders. Burnout scores showed no gender differences, while exhaustion and cynicism increased, and academic efficacy decreased with seniority. Academic efficacy was a consistently influential factor for both affective and cognitive empathy in both genders, all study years and the three domains of burnout.ConclusionAcademic efficacy was a significant factor influencing both affective and cognitive empathy.Practical implicationsThe comprehensive nature of empathy in medical students may be better investigated by applying multi-dimensional empathy measurement tools and by analyzing multiple factors such as gender, study year and burnout.     

The nature and sources of the emotional distress felt by intensivists and the burdens that are carried: A qualitative study

BackgroundWork in intensive care units is often traumatic and emotionally distressing, sometimes leading to growth but at other times to negative outcomes such as worker burnout and mental illness. The type and origin of distresses to intensivists has been poorly characterised in the literature. This evidence gap makes it difficult to develop tailored educational process or cultural interventions for all who work within the specialty.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to elicit the nature and sources of workplace emotional distress in an international sample of intensivists.MethodInterviews were undertaken with experienced intensivists in Australia and Israel related to the basis of workplace distress. These were transcribed and qualitatively thematically analysed.ResultsIn 2018, 19 intensivists participated in the study. Several key themes emerged from data analysis, some relating to clinical work, such as catastrophic patient outcomes, and some relating to interpersonal and systems-level challenges. Navigating complex interpersonal dynamics with carers and staff, both within and outside the intensive care unit team, caused substantial emotional burden.ConclusionsMany factors contribute to workplace stress for doctors in the intensive care setting. In elucidating common reactions to these stressors, we have attempted to normalise responses. We further note that the skill sets relevant to the many challenges identified are generally missing in medical training curricula. It may be prudent to consider their inclusion in the future.     

Association between burnout and nurses’ quality of life in neonatal intensive care units: During the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundNeonatal intensive care unit (NICUs) nurses could suffer from job stress and burnout, which could cause increased turnover rates and decreased Quality of Life (QoL) among nurses.PurposeTo determine the association between burnout and nurses’ QoL in NICUs.Study designThis correlational study was performed in 2020 on 140 nurses working in NICUs. The Maslach burnout and WHO Quality of Life-BREF was used to collect data.ResultsThere is a positive association between personal accomplishment and all dimensions of QoL (r = 0.40 to 0.56) and a negative association between emotional exhaustion, depersonalization of burnout and all dimensions of QoL (r = ?0.47 to ?0.79).ConclusionIt is suggested that several interventions must be taken to prevent burnout and increased QoL in NICU nurses. The findings could provide scientific evidence for managers and encourage evidence-based decision-making to reduce burnout and improve the QoL of nurses especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.