Burnout et soignants : un risque inépuisable ?

On the occasion of the congress in Lorient on the 16th of March 2010, the Maslach Burnout Inventory was proposed to 255 persons working directly or indirectly in psychogeriatric departments. Two hundred and one questionnaires were handed out to 42 carers, 14 health executives, seven managers of nursing homes, 42 nurses, 45 medical doctors, 30 psychologists, and 21 other formal carers (physiotherapists, occupational therapists…). The level of burnout risk was evaluated through the questionnaire built on 22 items assessing professional exhaustion. A positive score on the Maslach Burnout Inventory was considered as a risk for burnout. Thirty-nine persons were exposed to a risk of burnout. The age, seniority or gender of the professional did not appear to expose them to a particular risk. Nurses working in psychogeriatric departments are particularly exposed. The absence of guidelines in coping with a psychogeriatric patient; considering the patient as within a health system without equality in care, as if the availability of care was insufficient; doing the job as an obligation, all exposed to a risk of burnout. The staff exposed to a risk of burnout requested less training than the others in the following fields: diagnosis announcement; management of behavioural disorders; understanding Alzheimer's disease; managing disorientation; coping with the aggressiveness of the patient. It should be noted that this same staff did not ask for training on how to avoid burnout.