ABSTRACT
The term 'burnout' describes the collection of symptoms and signs, both physical and psychological, experienced by individuals due to their work. Individuals often feel a sense of emotional exhaustion, indifference, depersonalisation and a lack of desire for personal achievement. Intensive care medicine is well recognised to place high demands (physical and emotional) and considerable levels of stress on practitioners. It is therefore unsurprising that the incidence of burnout and self-harm/suicide is high. The clinical symptoms and signs of burnout are often non-specific and can include depression, irritability, insomnia, tiredness and anger. The hallmark of burnout is the triad of emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and sense of low personal accomplishment. The tool most widely used to diagnose burnout is the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI); this questionnaire consists of 22 items where the responders are asked to indicate the frequency at which they experience certain feelings with regard to their work.
