Burnout among Palliative Care Professionals Cover Image

Profesionalno sagorijevanje zaposlenih na području palijativne skrbi
Burnout among Palliative Care Professionals

Author(s): Ivana Macuka, Ivana Tucak Junaković, Danijela Božić
Subject(s): Theory of Communication, Social psychology and group interaction, Organizational Psychology, Health and medicine and law, Human Resources in Economy
Published by: Institut društvenih znanosti Ivo Pilar
Keywords: burnout; communication skills; resilience; religiosity; social support; palliative care;

Summary/Abstract: Prolongation of life expectancy increases the likelihood of death caused by chronic illness and the need for medical and psychosocial support within the palliative care setting. Professionals working in the palliative care field need adequate education to work with dying patients in order to achieve greater expertise, but also to prevent professional burnout. The aim of this study was to examine the contribution of personal (i.e. communication skills, resistance, religiosity) and factors related to the work environment (i.e. social support) in explaining burnout (i.e. emotional exhaustion and disengagement) among palliative care professionals. The study was conducted on a sample of 123 professionals working in the palliative care setting (nurses, physicians, psychologists, theologians, social workers, physiotherapists, etc.). The results indicate that personal risk/protection factors, compared to work environment factors, were more closely related to burnout, especially when emotional exhaustion was considered. On the other hand, both personal and environmental factors had a significant role in the prediction of disengagement from work. The most significant predictor of both aspects of burnout was the communication skill of reporting bad news.

  • Issue Year: 29/2020
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 287-308
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Croatian