Burn out in the workplace – an overview

By, Prof. Asoc. Dr. Lumturi MERKURI, Eljo PAJA

Abstract
Introduction: Burnout in the workplace is a complex reaction to continuous stress, that negatively affects employer ‘s mental and physical health and organizational productivity. This phenomenon is related to various personal and environmental factors, such as workplace support and individual characteristics. Aim: To provide an overview on several aspects of the burnout syndrome in five key sectors: healthcare, education, law enforcement, social work and finance. Methodology: A literature search was carried out to identify and analyses recently published articles related this phenomenon. This included studies from ScienceDirect, BMJ Open, PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, etc., using keywords such as “workplace burnout”, “stress at work”, “interventions for well-being”, and “mental health at work”.

Results: The findings of this review indicate that various factors, such as high workload and emotional demands, conflicts, lack of support, significantly increase the risk for burnout. Interventions focusing on stress management and social support showed significant improvements in employee well-being. WHO has developed competency standards for health workers to support people’s ability to self-care.

Conclusions: Personalized interventions, combined with policies that promote a supportive work environment, are essential for reducing burnout and improving overall employer well-being. These findings suggest the need for strategic interventions to address the emotional and psychological needs of employers and development policies and practices that will increase job satisfaction and reduce its negative impact.

Keywords: workplace burnout, work support, wellness interventions,
stress management