Chest
Volume 150, Issue 1, July 2016, Pages 17-26
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Commentary
An Official Critical Care Societies Collaborative Statement—Burnout Syndrome in Critical Care Health-care Professionals: A Call for Action

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2016.02.649Get rights and content

Burnout syndrome (BOS) occurs in all types of health-care professionals and is especially common in individuals who care for critically ill patients. The development of BOS is related to an imbalance of personal characteristics of the employee and 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 well-being of the many critical care physicians, nurses, and other health-care professionals who practice worldwide. Until recently, BOS and other psychological disorders in critical care health-care professionals remained relatively unrecognized. To raise awareness of BOS, the Critical Care Societies Collaborative (CCSC) developed this call to action. The present article reviews the diagnostic criteria, prevalence, causative factors, and consequences of BOS. It also discusses potential interventions that may be used to prevent and treat BOS. Finally, we urge 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.

Key Words

burnout syndrome
critical care
ICU
moral distress
posttraumatic stress disorder

Abbreviations

BOS
burnout syndrome
CCSC
Critical Care Societies Collaborative
MBI
Maslach Burnout Inventory
PTSD
posttraumatic stress disorder

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FUNDING/SUPPORT: This document was jointly developed by members of the Critical Care Societies Collaborative, which consists of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American Thoracic Society, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine.

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