Psycho-Social Hazards for Staff in Geriatrics and Geriatric Psychiatry

Abstract

Context: Exposure to\rburnout of staff involved with elderly patients is dependent on many factors\reither personal or linked to the professional environment. Social stress and\rsystemic problems created particularly by difficulties inherent in the French\rhospital management system and the way people feel it, lead to a risk of\rburnout. One illustration of this\ris the rise in suicides at work. Quality of life at work, harassment and\rpsycho-social risks are intimately linked. Affective factors, such as suffering\rfor the medical carers in response to the distress of their patients aggravate\rthe risk of burnout. Methods: We have evaluated these parameters using a\rself-filled questionnaire form sent to all staff and filled in by computer,\ranonymously, in 4 establishments, in December 2012 and over the first semester\rof 2013. After the three factors studied by the ProQOL scale of quality of life\rat work, to do with burnout, satisfaction compassion and fatigue compassion, 5\rother questions were added, connected with a feeling of harassment and several\rsocial and demographic matters. Burnout risk was retained on reaching a\rthreshold of 30 for this ProQOL scale item. Results: After multivariate\ranalysis including the parameters of the Stamm scale, harassment and the\rsocio-demographic factors studied, (age, sex, seniority, profession, and work\rdepartments) 4 factors are significantly associated with the risk of burnout,\rone negatively, compassion satisfaction, three positively, compassion fatigue,\rharassment experience and seniority. Conclusions: The risk of burnout is linked\rto subjective factors—the way quality of life at work is perceived and\rharassment experienced. Some professions, such as nurses, are particularly\rexposed and require these risk factors to be foreseen.