Burnout and coping in human service practitioners.

Abstract

Do many Spanish human service practitioners suffer from burnout? What coping strategies are used to combat work stress, and are they associated with lower burnout? Which strategies may the psychologist promote to improve organizations? With an eye toward helping organizations improve their workers' quality of work life and service delivery, 211 professionals, either child protection workers or in-home caregivers, completed an inventory on coping and another on burnout. Coping strategies alone do not preclude burnout but may help prevent worker turnover. High job and salary satisfaction, together with active coping strategies play an important role in promoting personal accomplishment. Low job and salary satisfaction and the use of passive or emotional strategies predict elevated emotional exhaustion. The results suggest some possible points of intervention.

Relationships between burnout and role ambiguity, role conflict and employee absenteeism among health workers

“…Although there is no a single definition of burnout, there is a broad consensus that it is an individual's response to chronic work stress (Cooper, Dewe & O'Driscoll, 2001;Jenaro, Flores & Arias, 2007;Maslach, Schaufeli & Leiter, 2001). It is an internal subjective experience that groups feelings and attitudes and that is negative for people and organizations, given that it can result in alterations, problems and psychophysiological dysfunctions (Gil-Monte, 2005).…”

Síndrome de burnout y calidad de vida laboral en profesionales de servicios sanitarios

“…En este sentido, es preciso que las organizaciones sanitarias se comprometan con políticas de prevención de los riesgos psicosociales y de mejora de la salud y calidad de vida en el trabajo. Ello supone acometer intervenciones desde el punto de vista individual y organizacional, tales como mejorar los aspectos comunicativos (comunicación horizontal y vertical), fomentar el apoyo social entre compañeros, determinar objetivos y prioridades, mantener un estilo de vida saludable o estrategias para reducir el agotamiento emocional (por ejemplo con entrenamiento en relajación, mejora de la asertividad, técnicas de solución de problemas) e intervenciones psicoeducativas, entre otras (Jenaro, Flores y Arias, 2007;Kravist, McAllister-Black, Grant y Kirt, 2010).…”

Developing and Implementing Peer-Led Intervention to Support Staff in Long-Term Care Homes Manage Grief

“…Providing physical and emotional comfort to residents along with support to the family, over a period of years to one's final days, creates experiences not often understood by many other front-line workers (Waskiewich et al, 2012). In addition, UCPs often face a multitude of factors such as clients' difficult behaviors, demanding work schedules, low salaries, role ambiguity, and low social recognition (Jenero, Flores, & Arias, 2007). Consequently, they may be at higher risk for developing emotional fatigue than others in helping professionals (Alkema, Linton, & Davies, 2008).…”

“…Doka's concept of disenfranchised grief is relevant to the LTC culture as ageism and the frequency of deaths create a belief system that "death is part of the job." Although the grief process has potential benefits such as cathartic adjustment and emotional growth, the stress that is often associated with grief can be debilitating, imparting a global effect that impacts the entire bio-psychosocial spectrum of life (Anderson & Gaugler, 2006-2007.…”