Burnout syndrome and coping strategies in Portuguese oncology health care providers

Abstract

Background Burnout is a multidimensional syndrome and includes symptoms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment at work. Oncology health care providers are at high risk to develop symptoms of burnout because of work-related stressors. Adaptive coping strategies adopted to deal with stressors may prevent the development of burnout. Objective The present study aims to assess the association between burnout, functional coping strategies, and occupational factors in a sample of oncology providers, mostly nurses. Methods Sociodemographic Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Problem Solving Inventory “Inventário de Resolução de Problemas” were administered. Descriptive, correlational, and linear regression analyses were performed. Results The study showed that emotional exhaustion correlated with lower levels of adaptive coping, less years of experience in Oncology, and a greater amount of hours worked per week. Personal accomplishment was associated with the adaptive coping strategies. No further statistically significant associations were identified. Discussion Our findings support the importance of adaptive coping strategies in order to prevent symptoms of burnout when health professionals face potentially stressful occupational factors. Training aimed at improving adaptive coping skills may prevent burnout syndrome for health care professionals working in Oncology.

Problem-focused Coping Controls Burnout in Medical Students: The Case of a Selected Medical School in Kenya

“…Problem-focused coping correlated, in opposing directions, with two of the components of burnout (EE and RPA) in line with the expectations. This was also in agreement with the past studies on burnout (Ceslowitz, 1989;Cumbe et al, 2017) and studies on constructs closely related to burnout (Snow-Turek et al, 1996). The more students perceived themselves as behaviorally engaged with the stressor (Carver et al, 1989) thus using an effective coping strategy (Dijkstra & Homan, 2016) the less they perceived themselves as emotionally fatigued.…”

“…Avoidant coping worsened students' callousness and impacted negatively on their motivational levels consistent with past studies (Chao, 2011;Cumbe et al, 2017). However, this strategy of coping did not relate with the students' negative belief in their abilities to succeed in academic endeavors contrary to earlier findings (Cumbe et al, 2017;Muriithi, 2016).…”

“…Avoidant coping worsened students' callousness and impacted negatively on their motivational levels consistent with past studies (Chao, 2011;Cumbe et al, 2017). However, this strategy of coping did not relate with the students' negative belief in their abilities to succeed in academic endeavors contrary to earlier findings (Cumbe et al, 2017;Muriithi, 2016). Probably, compared to nurses and oncology care providers, students being younger on average, tended to over appraise the beliefs in their ability to succeed (Cull, O'Connor, Sharp, & Tang, 2005;Fisher & Katz, 2000).…”

Burnout Precursors in Oncology Nurses: A Preliminary Cross-Sectional Study with a Systemic Organizational Analysis

“…In Iran, Teleghani et al [43] found a negative correlation between empathy and burnout. In Portugal, Cumbe et al [44] found that the dimension emotional exhaustion was correlated with lower levels of adaptive coping and less expertise in oncology setting. Also, a greater amount of hours worked per week was associated with a higher emotional exhaustion.…”

Remembrance and Renewal: Health Care Staff Spiritual Self-Care

“…Nelson and Hozak (2018) found that “caring for self was the strongest predictor of caring for others” (p. 83), supporting the importance of relationship-based care (RBC) practices. Central to their suggestions is the idea of a cultural shift moving in the direction of increased attention to burnout, self-care, and increased support for one another to create a caring and healing environment (Cumbe et al, 2017; Medland et al, 2004; Nelson & Hozak, 2018; Shen et al, 2018; Vidal-Blanco et al, 2019).…”