Hi,
Thanks for your question!
What causes the stress and burnout?
According to CHRIS LLOYD from University of Queensland, Australia in
his article "Work-related stress and occupational therapy", some
causes of stress and burnout are:
- the caring nature of their work
- repeated exposure to distress
- repeated exposure to difficult behaviour
- prolonged interventions and uncertain outcomes (I think this is in
regard to a patient)
Also possibly:
- professional status
- staffing issues
An abstract of the article is available here:
http://www.whurr.co.uk/OTi/842001_227.html
What is the impact of stress and burnout to their work?
- reduced patient care
- high staff turnover
- unhappy patients
- less time spent with patients
Losing the capacity to care for patients also caused Occupational
Therapists to feel guilty and have a reduced sense of job
satisfaction.
How will they cope with it?
There is a lot of information out there to help deal with burnout in
Occupational Therapists
Here are a few from MIT's "Burnout Prevention and Recorvery" site
http://web.mit.edu/afs/athena.mit.edu/user/w/c/wchuang/News/college/MIT-views.html
- AVOID ISOLATION. Don't do everything alone! Develop or renew
intimacies with friends and loved ones. Closeness not only brings new
insights, but also is anathema to agitation and depression.
- STOP OVERNURTURING. If you routinely take on other people's problems
and responsibilities, learn to gracefully disengage. Try to get some
nurturing for yourself.
- TAKE CARE OF YOUR BODY. Don't skip meals, abuse yourself with rigid
diets, disregard your need for sleep, or break the doctor
appointments. Take care of yourself nutritionally.
- KEEP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR. Begin to bring job and happy moments into
your life. Very few people suffer burnout when they're having fun.
Links to many other sites that suggest ways to deal with stress and
burnout (and prevent it) are listed on the Medismart "Stress and
Burnout" page.
http://medi-smart.com/stress.htm
I hope this answers your question, if not, please request a
clarification.
Jenjerina-ga
Search Strategy:
Used google with the keywords "occupational therapists stress burnout"
Useful links:
The American Occupational Therapy Foundation. This site has a lot of
information on OT and has links to a lot of research.
http://www.aotf.org/html/ot_101_subject_list.html |
