Psychological Impairment in Professional Caregivers

Abstract

ICU caregivers including physicians, nurses, and nurse assistants are at high risk of moral distress and burnout [1, 2]. The incidence of burnout among the caregivers varies according to medical specialties and differs slightly between the professions. It occurs in 20–50% of physicians in emergency, surgery, or internal medicine [3–5] and in 30–50% of ICU caregivers including physicians, nurses, and nurse assistants [1, 6, 7]. The readers might wonder why the editors inserted a chapter about ICU caregivers inside this book designed for patients and family members. The reason is that the mental well-being of ICU professional is of major importance for the care of the patients [8] and at the same degree of their relatives. Indeed, the caregivers in mental distress are unable to take care of the patients, are disengaged, and become insensitive to others’ suffering [3].