Burnout Common Among Intensive Care Staff

A new report reveals that almost half of intensive care unit (ICU) physicians, and up to a third of nurses, report symptoms of severe burnout syndrome (BOS) associated with their work.

Researchers at the University of Colorado School of Medicine (Aurora, USA), Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (VCU; Richmond, USA), the Medical College of Virginia Hospitals and Physicians (Richmond, USA), and other institutions conducted a survey that found that as many as 45% of critical care physicians reported symptoms of severe BOS, while 71% of pediatric critical care specialists reported having the same symptoms, which include exhaustion, depersonalization, and reductions in feelings of personal accomplishment.

Among critical care nurses, 25-33% reported some symptoms of severe BOS, with up to 86% experiencing at least one burnout symptom. The report also identified risk factors associated with burnout in the ICU, including specific personal characteristics, such as unhelpful coping strategies, sleep deprivation, perfectionism, and work-life imbalance; poor organizational skills; absence of quality of working relationships; and frequency of exposure to end-of-life situations. Organizational factors associated with BOS include increasing workload, lack of control over the work environment, insufficient reward, and a general breakdown in the work community.

The authors, all part of the Critical Care Societies Collaborative (CCSC) also issued a statement and a concomitant call to action, urging multiple stakeholders to help mitigate the development of BOS in critical care health-care professionals and diminish the harmful consequences of BOS, both for critical care health-care professionals and for patients. The report and call for action were published in the July 2016 issue of Chest.

“The ICU is almost like a battlefield; end-of-life situations are common, and there is not always agreement about how to care for these patients," said senior author Curt Sessler, MD, of VCU. “Burnout was once thought to be a late-career phenomenon, but studies suggest that younger physicians have nearly twice the prevalence of burnout syndrome compared with older colleagues, and that onset may occur as early as residency training. Many young nurses who experience burnout may not be cut out for the ICU, and they self-select out. Those who stay may have better resiliency or may thrive in the environment.”

The development of BOS is related to an imbalance of personal characteristics of the employee, work-related issues, or other organizational factors. BOS is associated with many deleterious consequences, including increased rates of job turnover, reduced patient satisfaction, and decreased quality of care. BOS also directly affects the mental health and physical wellbeing of the many critical care physicians, nurses, and other health-care professionals who practice worldwide.

Related Links:
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center
Medical College of Virginia Hospitals and Physicians
Critical Care Societies Collaborative