Skip to content
Research Article Open access CC BY 4.0

Givers Feel the Heat, Too: Experience of Burning out under Fire of Psychological Distress among Healthcare Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic

Lateef Olutoyin Oluwole, Adetunji Obadeji, Mobolaji Usman Dada

International Neuropsychiatric Disease Journal · pp. 36–45 · Published 23 Aug 2021

10.9734/indj/2021/v16i230172

Abstract

Background: Burnout is considered a condition of great public concern due to its biopsychosocial consequences which include poor quality of life. Healthcare providers have been described as high-risk population for experiencing burnout. Psychological distress is also considered a strong predictor of experience of burnout among healthcare workers who are burdened with the demand of the healthcare system. This is particularly so with healthcare workers in sub-Saharan Africa. The period of COVID-19 might have impacted on the burden of burnout experienced by healthcare professionals. Objective: This study was to determine the burden of burnout and its relationship with psychosocial variables among healthcare workers in a tertiary health care facility. Methods: The sample for this study was from a population of healthcare workers in a tertiary healthcare facility in southwest Nigeria. The questionnaire comprised three sections: information on socio-demographic work-related characteristics of the respondents; Maslach-Burnout-Inventory (MBI), and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) used in screening mental distress among the respondents. Student t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to compare the means scores of respondents on both the MBI and K-10 scales. Results: A total of 214 healthcare workers with mean age of 36.49±9.05 participated in the study. Seventy-six (35.5%) of the respondents had high burnout level on MBI. There was statistically significant difference in the mean score emotional exhaustion subscale of burnout experience for gender The mean score on emotional exhaustion dimension in doctors was significantly higher than the nurses. Emotional exhaustion correlated negatively with respondents’ years of experience at work (r = -0.181, p = 0.008). Thirty-seven (17.3%) of the respondents suffered mild to severe psychological distress as indicated by their scores on the Kessler scale of psychological distress. Conclusion: The study brought to the fore the relevant correlates of burnout in the high-risk group of essential healthcare providers.

Burnout psychological distress healthcare workers COVID-19

References (34)

  1. 1 The measurement of experienced burnout [DOI]
  2. 2 Early predictors of job burnout and engagement. [DOI]
  3. 3 Burnout Among U.S. Medical Students, Residents, and Early Career Physicians Relative to the General U.S. Population [DOI]
  4. 4 Global prevalence of burnout symptoms among nurses: A systematic review and meta-analysis [DOI]
  5. 5 The Relationship Between Professional Burnout and Quality and Safety in Healthcare: A Meta-Analysis [DOI]
  6. 6 Burnout in Mental Health Services: A Review of the Problem and Its Remediation [DOI]
  7. 7 Empathy in Clinical Practice: How Individual Dispositions, Gender, and Experience Moderate Empathic Concern, Burnout, and Emotional Distress in Physicians [DOI]
  8. 8 Prevalence of Health Care Worker Burnout During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic in Japan [DOI]
  9. 9 Levels of burn-out among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and their associated factors: a cross-sectional study in a tertiary hospital of a highly burdened area of north-east Italy [DOI]
  10. 10 Burnout among Healthcare Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic in India: Results of a Questionnaire-based Survey [DOI]
  11. 11 Burnout among healthcare providers in the complex environment of the Middle East: a systematic review [DOI]
  12. 12 Investigation of factors influencing burnout levels in the professional and private lives of nurses [DOI]
  13. 13 Understanding Physicians' Intentions to Withdraw from Practice: The Role of Job Satisfaction, Job Stress, Mental and Physical Health [DOI]
  14. 14 A longitudinal study of job stress in the nursing profession: causes and consequences [DOI]
  15. 15 An Exploratory Study of Resident Burnout and Wellness [DOI]
  16. 16 Empathy, Justice, and Moral Behavior [DOI]
  17. 17 Effects of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Duty Hour Limits on Sleep, Work Hours, and Safety [DOI]
  18. 18 Burnout, Social Support, and Job Satisfaction among Jordanian Mental Health Nurses [DOI]
  19. 19 Depression and the workplace: A progress report [DOI]
  20. 20 Burnout among Nurses in a Nigerian General Hospital: Prevalence and Associated Factors [DOI]
  21. 21 Burnout Syndrome in an International Setting [DOI]
  22. 22 Prevalence of burnout and associated factors among general practitioners in Hubei, China: a cross-sectional study [DOI]
  23. 23 Post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in caregivers of children tested for COVID-19 in the acute phase of the Italian outbreak [DOI]
  24. 24 Burnout and psychological distress among nurses in a Nigerian tertiary health institution [DOI]
  25. 25 Brain drain in sub-Saharan Africa: contributing factors, potential remedies and the role of academic medical centres [DOI]
  26. 26 Physician burnout in Nigeria: a multicentre, cross-sectional study [DOI]
  27. 27 Differences in health, productivity and quality of care in younger and older nurses [DOI]
  28. 28 Prevalence and correlates of psychological stress among teachers at a national key comprehensive university in China [DOI]
  29. 29 Psychological Distress Among Nurses Caring for Victims of War in Sri Lanka [DOI]
  30. 30 Psychological distress symptoms among healthcare professionals are significantly influenced by psychosocial work context, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional analysis [DOI]
  31. 31 Effects of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Duty-Hour Limits on Sleep, Work Hours, and Safety [DOI]
  32. 32 A comparative study of burnout syndrome among health professionals in a Nigerian teaching hospital.
  33. 33 Burnout among doctors and nurses at university of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, South-South Nigeria [DOI]
  34. 34 Burnout and Socio-demographic Characteristics of Nurses in Iran [DOI]

Cited by 2

Evaluation of interventions to reduce burnout syndrome of healthcare workers with AHP and COPRAS methods

Emre Yılmaz · Health Sciences Quarterly · 2025

Showing 1 of 2 known citations — external sources report more than can currently be individually listed.

Related research

Article metrics

Real usage data collected on this platform.

34

Page views

0

PDF downloads

4

Outbound clicks

2

Citations

Views over time

Views by country

Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".

Traffic sources

Referring site, by host.

Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.