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Increasing burnout rates: Nursing staff under pressure – need for action!
A current study by the UNI Kassel sheds light on the emotional strain of hospital social services in Germany and the need for preventative measures to prevent burnout.
Increasing burnout rates: Nursing staff under pressure – need for action!
More and more employees in the healthcare sector are reporting states of exhaustion that are due to the demands of their job. A current study carried out at 2,503 hospital locations in Germany shows alarming results. These results were recorded in a study of social workers in hospital social services, who reported higher emotional demands than other professional groups. The average stress value is 82 points on a scale of 0-100, which is around 40 points above the industry average in Germany.
The study, conducted as part of the Healthy Social Services Project, shows clear signs of burnout symptoms. Hospital social services achieve an average of 54 points in terms of burnout, while general social work is 51 points and the national average is 49 points. A worrying aspect is that 42.6% of professionals surveyed are often or always emotionally exhausted. In addition, 33.9% reported physical exhaustion.
Causes and effects
A significant proportion of respondents, namely 70.1%, stated that they had gone to work sick in the last twelve months. The high burden is attributed to the pressure in discharge management and the high quantitative requirements. Despite the fact that 73.0% of social workers stated that their institution provided health promotion services, only 39.4% actually took part in these services. This shows a discrepancy between the available resources and their utilization.
The need to address prevention measures and structural changes was emphasized by the study authors. 55.5% of those surveyed showed great interest in stress management courses. In addition, the implementation of comprehensive risk assessments on psychological stress was highlighted as essential. The need for specific health promotion measures highlights the urgency of interventions to improve employee well-being.
Context and comparison
The current situation is not unique to social work in hospitals. According to numerous reports, burnout rates are increasing across all professional groups, particularly healthcare professionals. According to estimates, up to 30% of employees in the health and social sector are at risk of burnout, although even higher numbers can be expected for doctors. Nursing staff in particular have an average length of stay in the profession of only 6 to 8 years, which indicates the high level of workload and associated stress.
The causes of burnout in healthcare are complex: emotional stress, rigid hierarchies, insufficient design options as well as cost pressure and long working hours are among the main factors. Again, emotional exhaustion is the main symptom, which often leads to a number of other health problems, including depression and cardiovascular disease.
In summary, the results of the study are: uni-kassel.de indicate a worrying development. Additional studies, such as those by PubMed, also make it clear that there are specific differences within the psychosocial stress in somatic and psychiatric nursing professions. Given the ongoing challenges in the healthcare sector, the development of targeted measures to prevent burnout is essential, as well ORF has determined.