Burnout in health professionals

Burnout is a psychological syndrome that involves a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job (Maslach, 1982; Maslach et al., 2001). As such, it has been an issue of particular concern for human services occupations where: (a) the relationship between providers and recipients is central to the work, and (b) the provision of service, care, treatment or education can be a highly emotional experience. Within such occupations, the norms are clear, if not always stated explicitly: to be selfless and put others' needs first; to work long hours and do whatever it takes to help a client or patient or student; to go the extra mile and to give one's all. When such norms are combined with work settings that are high in demands and low in resources, then the risk for burnout is high (Maslach & Goldberg, 1998). All of these criteria certainly apply to health professions, which have long been recognized as stressful occupations (Cartwright, 1979). Indeed, much of the earliest research on burnout was conducted in the area of healthcare (Maslach & Jackson, 1982), and this focus has continued up to the present (Maslach & Ozer, 1995; Leiter & Maslach, 2000).

The multidimensional model of burnout

Burnout has been conceptualized as an individual stress experience that is embedded in a context of social relationships and thus involves the person's conception of both self and others (Maslach, 1998).