Investigation of the burnout syndrome among the employees of the Department of Surgery at the University of Szeged and comparison with the results of the Department of Emergency Medicine

• Published in: Orvosi hetilap Vol. 160; no. 20; p. 784
• Main Authors: Stankovic, Mona, Töreki, Annamária, Lázár, György, Pető, Zoltán
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Hungarian
• Published: Hungary 01.05.2019
• Subjects: psychological immune system; employees of emergency department; employees of surgery department; burnout syndrome; pszichológiai immunrendszer; sebészeti klinika dolgozói; sürgősségi osztály dolgozói; kiégés
• DOI: 10.1556/650.2019.31396

Examination of the burnout syndrome in various healthcare fields has paramount importance for a better understanding of the disorder as well as for the establishment of a suitable preventive and intervention program. The surgical departments' employees are at risk among healthcare workers, so it is our objective to further expand the knowledge on the characteristics of the burnout syndrome among the Hungarian surgical staff. Additionally, we compare the results obtained from the Department of Surgery at the University of Szeged with the results of the Department of Emergency Medicine. Aim of this study is to examine the burnout syndrome and its associations with different variables among the workers of the Department of Surgery at the University of Szeged, and to compare the data with a previous study conducted at the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Szeged. Cross-sectional design utilizing a self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect data from the staff. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, while psychological immune competence was measured using the Psychological Immune Competence Questionnaire. Based on statistical analysis, the number of weekly working hours and the number of somatic symptoms have a negative impact on burnout, while the greater number of high-quality social relationships and the stronger psychological immune competence have proven to be protective factors. Comparing the Department of Surgery and Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Szeged, we found a difference in the age of the workers, the number of years spent in the healthcare as well as the scores on the burnout depersonalization scale. The results obtained show further correlations and reveal protective and risk factors in burnout which can be a key to establishing preventive and intervention strategies. Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(20): 784-791.