Professional burnout

Another assumption that we professionals sometimes make is that we should be able to help our clients get better, when the reality is that they must help themselves. We can show them the door, but ultimately it is the clients who must walk through it to better health. When a person does not walk through the door, it is easy to personalize our responsibility for the lack of progress and get frustrated because we could not help him or her. Long-term frustration in working with clients can lead to apathy or disillusionment, stepping stones toward what some have called professional burnout. In my opinion, burnout occurs as a result of unrealistic expectations by professionals about their own abilities to help others and of unrealistic expectations for their clients to get better. The truth is that behavior change is completely up to the client. We can motivate and teach but we cannot force people to act. 

TAKE TIME to prevent professional burnout. Social workers need to remain productive and receptive professionals who can serve as good role models for the clients and other professionals. It is essential for social workers, like all health professionals, to remember that it is not possible to know all medications and the implications for usage and misuse. Rather, the key is to recognize what is not known and help the client to find the answers that are needed. INVESTIGATE and apply innovative and empirically based approaches to current client-care problems and issues. 

Kahili, S. (1988). Symptoms of professional burnout A review of the empirical evidence. Canadian Psychology 29 284-97. 

Developing a professional network helps counselors and therapists provide the best care possible to clients. Networks not only work to improve the treatment outcomes of clients, but also can increase the knowledge of therapists and counselors as well as provide for professional support to avoid burnout and poor decisions. Networks can make the process of referring clients much easier as well. 

Health professionals experience burnout with greater frequency than people in business or industry (Muldary, 1983). Consequently, when managing professionals, it is important to understand some of the potential causes of and... 

The characteristics that influence individuals to become health care professionals may be the same characteristics that predispose them to burnout (Muldary, 1983). For instance, individuals with a high degree of empathy tend to be drawn to the caring professions. However, health care professionals who have a high degree of empathy tend to experience a fair ammmt of distress when their patients suffer. Pines and Aronson (1981) further describe that health care professionals inherent client-centered orientation and focus predisposes them to burnout (as cited in Muldary, 1983). 

There also are certain individual personality types that if coupled with the common traits of health care professionals lend themselves to even greater risks of burnout. For instance, health care professionals who have a Type A personality or an obsessive-compulsive personality may be further predisposed to burnout. Persons with obsessive-compulsive personalities cannot accept that the world is imperfect and will strive to compensate by gaining a measure of control over anything they can. However, as the number of things that they cannot control increases, they often experience mood changes and become depressed. Individuals with... 

Women health care professionals may also experience unique sets of challenges and expectations within their work environments. It has been found that women see work as a means of self-fulfillment and professional autonomy and consequently may hold higher expectations for their careers than men (Muldary, 1983). Moreover, women health professionals who manage families in addition to their jobs have expectations to fulfill as professionals as well as wives or mothers. Expectations from each role can carry over into the other contexts and can result in little time for women to meet their personal needs. Another problem that can be experienced by women professionals is real or perceived sexism. Although beyond the scope of this chapter, real or perceived sexism can result in added frustrations and resentments that could further contribute to burnout. 

Health professionals often experience burnout within two years of beginning their jobs (Muldary, 1983). Moreover, it is frequently the neophyte professional, as opposed to the more experienced professional, who burns out during the first two years. Multiple stressors commonly experienced as part of the professional socialization process can, if left xmchecked, contribute to burnout. All too often, there are discrepancies between what students learn in the somewhat idealistic environments of professional training programs and the day-to-day realities of the working world. Moreover, neophyte professionals are likely to feel stress as they encoxmter new situations or those for which they have not received specific training. New professionals quickly realize how much they do not know and how much they still need to learn. 

Managers of health professionals need to be aware of and watch for manifestations of these common frustrations. They need to help neophyte professionals cope with this phase of their new careers in part by helping them to realize that these feelings and experiences are not uncommon. If new professionals do not get addihonal guidance and support, many often begin to experience burnout. Managers need to be aware that the most enthusiastic and idealishc health professionals are often the most vulnerable to burnout (Muldary 1983). 

Muldary TW. Burnout and Health Professionals Manifestations and Management. Apple-ton-Century-Crofts, Norwalk, CT, 1983. 

Ackerley, G. D. et al. (1988). Burnout among licensed psychologists. Professional Psychology Research and Practice 19 624-31. 

Firth, H. et al (1987). Professional depression, burnout and personality in long stay nursing. International Journal of Nursing Studies 24 221-111. 

Jones, J. (1980a). The Staff Burnout Scale for Health Professionals. Park Ridge, IL London House Press. 

McGee, D. (1989). Burnout and professional decision making An analog study. Journal of Counselling Psychology 36 345-51. 

Rabinowitz, S. et al. (1996). Preventing burnout Increasing professional self efficacy in primary care nurses in a Balint group. American Association of Occupational Health Nursing Journal 44 28-32. 

I am also indebted to the numerous guiding and motivating communications I have received from corporate and community safety professionals worldwide. Daily contacts with these individuals shaped my research and scholarship and challenged me to improve the connection between research and application. They also provided valuable positive reinforcement to prevent "burnout." It would take pages to name all of these friends and acquaintances, and then I would necessarily miss many. You know who you are—thank you ... 

Yip, B. (2007). Job burnout among construction professionals in Hong Kong A moderator model with coping strategies. PhD thesis. The University of Hong Kong. 

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