Supporting in grief and burnout of the nursing team from pediatric units in Chilean hospitals

Abstract

Objective: To know the levels of Burnout Syndrome and perception of grief support in nursing teams of oncology and pediatric intensive care in public hospitals in Chile. Method: A study of descriptive cross-sectional design. Th e Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Grief Support Health Care Scale were applied to university-level and technical nursing professionals between March and November 2015. An analysis to compare the means was performed with use of the Student's t-test, and the level of significance was set at 5%. Results: Th e study included 153 professionals. Results show 4% of professionals have Burnout Syndrome (BS) and 89% are at risk of having it. Oncology professionals are at higher risk as they present higher levels of emotional exhaustion and lower levels of personal fulfillment. Half of professionals have a high level of perception of grief support, which is greater in the oncology team. Conclusion: Professionals working in pediatric oncology units are at increased risk of Burnout Syndrome and grief support may be a mediating factor in this process.