Occupational Burnout and Its Determinants among Personnel of Emergency Medical Services in Iran
,
Abstract
Several observations have addressed high rates of occupational burnout among personnel of emergency medical services (EMSs) centers. Occupational burnout influences EMS personnel's well-being and quality of life. The main objective of this study was to assess burnout and its determinants among Iranian EMS personnel. This study was carried out at all EMS centers in two provinces of Kermanshah and Hamadan located at the west of Iran. The sample consists of 260 personnel (110 in Hamadan and 150 in Kermanshah) that were consecutively entered. The information was collected by researcher attendance at their workplaces using a self-administered questionnaire. Occupational-burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. An average of 46.54% of personnel displayed high frequency in the subscale emotional exhaustion, 38.85% displayed high frequency in the subscale depersonalization, and only 2.69% of them displayed high frequency in the subscale incompetence/lack of personal accomplishment. Regarding the severity of burnout, severe emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were detected in an average of 25.39% and 37.69 of the personnel, respectively; while, an average of 97.31% expressed a low level of the lack of personal accomplishment. Frequency and severity of burnout were adversely affected by younger age, single status, history of smoking, lower income, higher work experience, longer shifts, and even work status of the spouse. Iranian EMSs personnel considerably suffered from emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. This should be effectively managed and improved by organizational supports, psychological consultations, and effective management aimed to improve determinants of appearing occupation-related burnout.
Aiken LH, Clarke SP, Sloane DM. Hospital staffing, organization, and quality of care: cross-national findings. Int J Qual Health Care 2002;14(1):5-13.
Healy S, Tyrrell M. Stress in emergency departments: experiences of nurses and doctors. Emerg Nurse 2011;19(4):31-7.
Adriaenssens J, De Gucht V, Van Der Doef M, et al. Exploring the burden of emergency care: predictors of stress-health outcomes in emergency nurses. J Adv Nurs 2011;67(6):1317-28.
Popa F, Arafat R, Purcărea VL, et al. Occupational burnout levels in emergency medicine--a stage 2 nationwide study and analysis. J Med Life 2010;3(4):449-53.
Bernardi M, Catania G, Marceca F. The world of nursing burnout: a literature review. Prof Inferm 2005;58(2):75-9.
Maslach C, Jackson SE. The measurement of experienced burnout. J Occup Behav 1981;2(1):99-113.
Burke RJ, Greenglass ER. Hospital restructuring, Workfamily conflict and psychological burnout among Nursing Staff. Psychol Health 2001;16(5):583-94.
Flynn L, Thomas-Hawkins C, Clarke SP. Organizational traits, care processes, and burnout among chronic hemodialysis nurses. West J Nurs Res 2009;31(5):569-82.
Allen MW. Communication concepts related to perceived organizational support. West J Communicate 1995;59(4):326-46.
Flynn L, Dickson G, Moles DJ. Focus on caregiving. Enhancing the nursing workplace: In a recent study of long term care nurses, key organizational factors emerge as most important in supporting a productive work environment. Provider 2007;33(1):35-9.
Jawahar IM, Stone TH, Kisamore JL. Role conflict and burnout: The direct and moderating effects of political skill= and perceived organizational support on burnout dimensions. Int J Stress Management 2007;14(2):142-59.
Laschinger H, Purdy N, Cho J, et al. Antecedents and consequences of nurse managers’ perceptions of organizational support. Nurs Economic 2006;24(1):20-9.
Sullivan EJ, Decker PJ, editors. Effective leadership & management in nursing. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall; 2005: p. 344.
Dargahi H, Shaham G. Life Change Units (LCU) rating as stressors in Iranian hospitals' nurses. Acta Med Iran 2012;50(2):138-46.
Nasrabadi AN, Seif H, Latifi M, et al. Night shift work experiences among Iranian nurses: a qualitative study. Int Nurs Rev 2009;56(4):498-503.
McManus IC, Smithers E, Partridge P, et al. A levels and intelligence as predictors of medical careers in UK doctors: 20 year prospective study. BMJ 2003;327(7407):139-42.
Figley CR. Compassion fatigue: toward a new understanding of the costs of caring. In: Stamm BH, editor. Secondary traumatic stress. 2nd ed. Baltimore, MD: Sidrian Press; 2009: p. 29-36.
Maslach C, Leiter MP, editors. The truth about burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It. 1st ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2000: p. 200.
Maslach C, Schaufeli WB, Leiter MP. Job burnout. Ann Rev Psychol 2001;52:397-422.
Cherniss C, editor. Professional Burnout in Human Service Organizations. New York: Praeger Publishers; 1980: p.295.
Weibel L, Gabrion I, Aussedat M, et al. Work-related stress in an emergency medical dispatch center. Ann Emerg Med 2003;41(4):500-6.
Alameddine M, Kazzi A, El-Jardali F, et al. Occupationalmviolence at Lebanese emergency departments: prevalence, characteristics and associated factors. J Occup Health 2001;53(6):455-64.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 53, No 11 (2015) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| Keywords | ||
| Occupational burnout Determinants Emergency Medical Services | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
