A survey launched in 2006 looks at the risk of experiencing job burnout in different professions. The first results, now available, focus on the professions of nurses and carers. Almost one fifth of employees in the health and social work sector are at high risk of burnout. Moreover, three out of five nurses and carers report medium or high levels of emotional exhaustion. The study reveals that the risk of suffering from job burnout differs mostly according to working time.
About the study
The work@social interest group (Interessengemeinschaft) of the Union of Salaried Employees, Printing Workers and Journalists (Gewerkschaft der Privatangestellten, Druck, Journalismus, Papier, GPA-DJP) commissioned a a survey on job burnout. The study was coordinated by the human resource management (HRM) and business consulting network Business Doctors and financed by the Schloss Wolfsberg competence centre. First results on the risks of job burnout have already been submitted for jobs in the nursing and caring professions – Österreichs erste grosse Burnoutstudie, Teil 1 – die Sozial- und Pflegeberufe (Summary in German, 157Kb PDF).
The Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) intends to extend this quantitative study to a variety of different professions such as information technology (IT) consultants, teachers, journalists and employees working in hotels and restaurants. This first part of the survey was undertaken in 2006. In total, 737 employees working in the health and social work sector were interviewed by means of a questionnaire based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI).
The MBI is a three-factor model that weighs the effects of emotional exhaustion on a nine-item scale, depersonalisation on a five-item scale and reduced sense of personal accomplishment on an eight-item scale. The respondents are asked to specify the frequency of the incidence in question, choosing from options ranging from ‘never’ to ‘daily’. A value of zero or one for a particular factor means that a person is at low risk of suffering job burnout, while a value of two, three or four for a factor means a medium risk, and a value of five or six indicates a high risk of job burnout. People who experience all three symptoms have the greatest risk of burnout, although emotional exhaustion is said to be the main indicator responsible for the condition.
Profile of survey respondents
Some 62% of the respondents are female, which corresponds to the high proportion of women working in the health and social work sector. Concerning age, most respondents (68%) are between 31 and 50 years old, 23% are younger than 31 years and about 10% are older than 50 years. Regarding marital status, 43% are single while 57% are either married or live with a partner. Most respondents (63%) work full time. However, a large gender gap arises in this respect, with 41% of the women working part time compared with 29% of the male respondents.
Risk of burnout
The survey reveals that 20% of the 737 respondents employed in health and social work are at high risk of experiencing job burnout. A further 26% are at medium risk of falling victim to burnout.
Indicators for emotional exhaustion include, for instance, emotional overload in working with other people, loss of positive feelings, or the impression that patients or clients require more devotion than the employee is able to give. The proportion of employees whose value of emotional exhaustion is five or more (high risk) amounts to 29%. At the same time, the share of carers and nurses with a value of two to four (medium risk) also amounts to 29% (see table).
Risk of job burnout of nurses and carers, 2006 (%)
| | Emotional exhaustion | Depersonalisation | Reduced personal accomplishment |
| High level | 29 | 14 | 29 |
| Medium level | 29 | 23 | 44 |
Source: GPA-DJP, IG work@social, 2008
Depersonalisation measures the feelings towards patients and clients. Signs of a high risk of suffering job burnout include an unsympathetic, negative perception towards patients or clients, or aggressive, cynical, humiliating comments and behaviour towards patients or clients. Some 14% of employees in health and social work suffer from severe depersonalisation symptoms while 23% suffer from medium severe symptoms in this regard.
Reduced personal accomplishment exists, for example, if the person experiences feelings of failure and powerlessness, is dissatisfied with his or her performance, and also actually suffers from reduced efficiency. A total of 29% of nurses and carers show a high level of reduced personal accomplishment and 44% show a medium level in this respect.
Working time
A key factor influencing the risk of job burnout is working time. The survey reveals that full-time workers are at a higher risk of suffering burnout than part-time workers. Thus, 23% of employees who work full time suffer a high risk of job burnout, whereas this proportion amounts to 15% for part-time workers.
This pattern is found for each of the three factors: 32% of full-time but only 23% of part-time workers in health and social work are highly affected by emotional exhaustion. Meanwhile, the proportion of nurses and carers who suffer from high levels of depersonalisation amounts to 16% for full-time workers and 10% for part-time staff. In relation to reduced personal accomplishment, the difference between full-time and part-time workers is less distinct: 30% of full-timers and 27% of part-timers experience high levels of reduced personal accomplishment.
Other factors
Interestingly, other factors such as age, marital status or gender do not reveal notable differences. Nevertheless, concerning gender, more men than women experience a slightly higher risk not only of job burnout but also of each of the three factors. This surprising result may be due to the fact that men tend to work full time more often than women. Thus, working time could be considered as an important factor determining job burnout for employees in the health and social work sector.
Marion Vogt, Working Life Research Centre (Forschungs- und Beratungsstelle Arbeitswelt, FORBA)