A pilot study about the burn out investigation of PICU medical and nursing personnel for a pediatric hospital

The last decades, physicians' and nurses' burnout have been constituted a subject of many studies. Stress can be considerable in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICUs) and Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs), as the relationships between physicians/nursing personnel and the relatives can develop reacts of discomfort and depression to the professionals. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the existence or not of burnout in PICUs and NICUs in a pediatric hospital of Athens and the correlation of burnout with demographic and other social factors. Method and material: The study was conducted in a pediatric hospital of Athens. There were distributed 64 questionnaires to physicians and nursing staff and have been returned filled 48 (response rate, rr= 75%). The questionnaire that has been used was the Maslach burnout inventory (MBI, Maslach and Jackson 1984) and the statistical analysis has concluded not parametric tests using SPSS. Results: The professional burnout has been found in moderate levels as it seems by the means of the 3 dimensions of MBI. The mean scores of the emotional exhaustion were 22.02, the personal achievements 32.44 and the depersonalization 9.02. Significant statistical differences has been found between dimensions of MBI and sex (p=0,034), age (p=0,001), educational level (p=0,045), work department (p=0,004), work position (p=0,015), and years in the employment (p=0,025), at the hospital (p=0,008), in the department (p=0,018). Conclusion: As well as the professional burnout of physicians and nursing personnel working in PICU and NICU has been found between moderate to high levels, the managers of the hospitals should take it in account contributing in the improvement of personnel's quality of life in these particular departments.

Keywords: Professional burnout, physicians and nursing personnel, PICU, NICU