Burnout and Compassion Fatigue among Medical and Nursing Teams in Palliative Care: Cross-Sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32635/2176-9745.RBC.2025v71n3.5273Keywords:
Health Personnel/psychology, Burnout, Psychological, Compassion FatigueAbstract
Introduction: Healthcare workers, such as doctors, nurses and icensed practical nurses may be subjected to physical or emotional stress related to work for several reasons: organizational factors, lack of skills or competencies and low social support at work, in addition to internal issues, such as frequent exposure to caring for people with intense suffering. Objective: To evaluate the factors related to burnout syndrome (BS) and compassion fatigue (CF) among medical and nursing teams in scenarios of the therapeutic itinerary of oncology patients in palliative care. Method: This was a cross-sectional study with palliative care medical and nursing teams, emergency, clinical oncology, and intensive care services at a referral center for oncology in Recife, Pernambuco (Brazil). Sociodemographic data were collected, and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory and Professional Quality of Life Scales were used to assess BS and CF, respectively. Results: Physicians exhibited characteristics more prone to suffering, with lower compassion satisfaction (CS) (45.67 ± 10.55) and greater disengagement from work (2.28 ± 0.66). Palliative care professionals demonstrated more positive characteristics compared to others, with lower disengagement from work (1.86 ± 0.38; p = 0.04) and greater CS (53.63 ± 10.33). Intensive care and emergency presented higher risk illness profile with reduced CS and high levels of disengagement from work. Conclusion: Physicians and emergency and intensive care teams were more likely to suffer from BS and CF, while licensed practical nurses and the palliative care team presented healthier indicators. These data can support institutional approaches to identify risk factors for BS and CF among workers and develop effective solutions for them.
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