Professional Burnout
Because of their involvement and decision making power in the lives of families, child protection workers, for example, often face direct trauma such as verbal abuse, threats of harm and physical assaults, with direct assaults on workers having a greater association with psychological dysfunction than exposure to traumatised children. Moreover, organisational stressors such as high workload, non-supportive co-workers and supervisors, and feeling undervalued as employees has been found to be more distressing and harmful than operational stressors (Guadagno & Cassematis 2013). Prolonged and continual stress, which can include anxiety, depression or anger can lead to burnout (Tamini & Kord 2011).
While burnout is a global phenomenon, its meaning differs cross-culturally. In some countries, it is a medical diagnosis, in others a non-medical, more socially acceptable and less stigmatising label for a cluster of physical and psychiatric symptomatology (Shaufeli, Leiter & Maslach 2008). It is characterised by emotional and physical exhaustion, negative perceptions of clients (depersonalisation), a crisis in personal and professional competence (reduced sense of accomplishment or capacity to perform) and lost belief in the worth of one’s role. Symptoms can include difficulties concentrating, reduced ability to cope with stress, irritability or emotional instability, sleep disturbances, muscle pain, dizziness, heart palpitations, inability to relax, physical and mental exhaustion (Shaufeli, Leiter & Maslach 2008). Lost compassion and diminished effectiveness has a devastating impact on worker sense of professional/personal identity and purpose. Burnout is most prevalent in human services occupations like child protection that require creativity, problem solving and intensive mental/emotional output (Shaufeli, Leiter & Maslach 2008) and can also impact on broader life satisfaction, although research on gender correlation remains inconclusive (Tamini & Kord 2011). “There is a difference between feeling tired because you put in a hard day’s work and feeling fatigued in every cell of your being” (Lipsky & Burk in Sansbury, Graves & Scott 2015).
Burnout can also result from serious vicarious traumatisation (related to countertransference of traumatic experience through unmanaged empathic engagement with traumatised clients) or compassion fatigue, both resulting in sleep disturbance, mood swings, changes in memory and cognition. These symptoms can occur with increasing severity if the content resonates with the workers own experience (Sansbury, Graves & Scott 2015). Research has shown a positive correlation between vicarious trauma and the number of multiple complex trauma cases on workers’ caseloads, so regular supportive supervision and caseload management can reduce worker risk (Sansbury, Graves & Scott 2015). An active plan to prevent and mitigate risk of vicarious traumatisation, compassion fatigue and burnout as a normal component of professional self-care and organisational culture budgeting is therefore essential in demanding work contexts.
Easier said than done in most under-funded and resourced work contexts, but research has shown the following. Cardiovascular exercise increased well-being and decreased psychological distress, perceived stress, and emotional exhaustion, while resistance training increased well-being and personal accomplishment and reduced perceived stress. Organisations wishing to proactively reduce burnout can do so by encouraging their employees to access regular exercise programs (Bretland and Thorsteinsson 2015). Addressing inadequate recognition and support of specialised skills, and high workload demands impacting on capacity to conduct best practice work are perhaps more obvious examples. Burnout is less likely to be a problem in smaller organisations that provide a collective identity through shared social commitment, connection with the collective whole and strong shared values (Shaufeli, Leiter & Maslach 2008).
