Sunday 17 July 2016

Burnout syndrome: A Critical Care Societies Collaborative call-to-action statement

Burnout syndrome: A Critical Care Societies Collaborative call-to-action statement Critical care health care professionals have one of the highest rates of burnout syndrome (BOS), compared with other health care professionals, according to a Critical Care Societies Collaborative call-to-action statement published in the July 2016 issue of the journal Chest. The statement has categorized risk factors by personal characteristics, organizational factors, quality of working relationships and exposure to end-of-life issues and calls for healthy ICU work environments that ultimately improve patients’ quality of care. The Critical Care Societies Collaborative (CCSC) comprises four major US professional and scientific societies: the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Thoracic Society, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine. The statement reviews the diagnostic criteria, prevalence, causative factors and consequences of BOS along with potential interventions that may be used to prevent and treat BOS. • BOS occurs due to an imbalance of personal characteristics of the employee and work-related issues or other organizational factors. • The outcomes include increased rates of job turnover, reduced patient satisfaction, and decreased quality of care. • BOS also directly affects the mental health and physical well-being of the many critical care physicians, nurses, and other health-care professionals who practice worldwide. • Being self-critical, engaging in unhelpful coping strategies, sleep deprivation and a work-life imbalance have been identified as some of the personal traits associated with BOS. • Other personal risk factors associated with BOS are idealism, perfectionism and overcommitment, qualities that are often found in the best and most productive employees. • Critical care health-care professionals and their friends and family should be able to recognize the features of BOS and each critical care health-care professional should be personally responsible for managing their own BOS symptoms and related consequences • ICU teams should improve their ability to function as a group, respect each other, and reduce triggers of BOS. • ICU leaders should implement programs that identify and manage employees with BOS. • Hospitals should provide assistance programs for employees with (or at risk for) BOS and other psychological disorders such as PTSD. • Hospitals or clinical practices should consider limiting the number of consecutive days that a critical care health-care professional works, while promoting healthy sleep habits and the importance of sleep recovery. • Professional societies should educate and inform their members about BOS and other psychological disorders that impair the mental and physical health of their members, reduce the quality of care of their patients, and may deter trainees from entering their specific field.

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