Burnout - a Syndrome

Burnout is a syndrome of physical and emotional exhaustion, involving the developing of negative self-concept, negative job attitude, and a loss of concerns and feelings for clients (Bbnet, 1995). Burnout in the workplace does not happen overnight but it is a slow process. According to the Mayo Clinic (2010), job burnout is defined as a special type of stress with different states of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion combined with doubts about competence, and the value of working ( para.2). Some of the factors of burnout may be individual, cultural, organizational lack of support and supervisory. Burnout as a result of individual factors maybe addressed by staff development interventions and in-house trainings related to time management, peer support groups, problem solving and resource exchange (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis 2007). Supervisors must also be aware of their responsibility to be a role model for all employees, and be motivators about work goals and objectives. One factor which may alleviate the effects of burnout or stress is the amount of supervisory support employees receive during stressful events and occurrences. (See House, 1981; Kasl and Wells, 1985).

Organizations can do many things in order to prevent employee burnout; they could redesign jobs to enable employees to have control over the work. Major source of burnout in healthcare settings is the gap between the expectations they have when they begin their first job and the realities they find. Participation in decision making may help prevent burnout by clarifying role expectations and giving an employee the opportunity to reduce some of their role conflicts. Preventing burnout as a human services manager requires knowledge of the signs and symptoms of burnout among supervisees. As a manager, a top priority should be staying alert to the signs of burnout and reacting immediately to avoid any progress. According to Mayo Clinic (2010), another way to prevent burnout is by setting boundaries to how far an individual is willing to commit themselves to community outreach project. Another good way to prevent burnout is to delegate tasks and be able to say no to requests from co-workers or clients that will cause more stress which can be very overwhelming.

With my own experienced of personal and work related stressful situations, my co- worker told me that my emotions are easily identified through my body language and facial expression. I worked everyday in healthcare settings and the high stress is normal. When I feel stressed out, I spend at least 10-15 minutes walking alone or go to my car and listen to music.

Reference:

Lewis, J.Packard, T., & Lewis, M, (2007). Management of human service programs,

Belmont: Thomson.