Burnout at a bone marrow transplantation unit in Turkey: Effects of interactive psychoeducational seminars

Authors: AYŞEGÜL YILMAZ, ATİLLA SOYKAN, TUĞBA AYAZ, ELMAS İNCE KALE, GÜNHAN GÜRMAN, HAKAN KUMBASAR

Abstract: Aim: Health staff working at bone marrow transplantation units (BMTUs) is found to be at a higher risk for suffering from burnout. This paper reports a critical assessment of how burnout level of the health staff working at a bone marrow transplantation unit changes after psychoeducational seminars. Materials and methods: The study was conducted by the Consultation Liaison Psychiatry Division at the BMTU of the Department of Hematology at Ankara University, School of Medicine. Sixty-one health staff members (67%) working at the BMTU filled out socio-demographic and occupational data form, and validated Turkish versions of Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Hospital Anxiety-Depression Scale (HADS), and Quality of Life Scale-short form (SF-36). After the baseline data were collected, 29 members refused to attend the psychoeducational seminars and served as "control" group for the study. The remaining 32 (intervention group) attended 9 interactive seminars focusing on reducing burnout. After completion of the seminars, both intervention and control groups filled out MBI, HADS, and SF-36 scales for the comparisons of the impacts of educational seminars. Results: The mean age, gender distribution, educational level, marital status, history of psychiatric illness, and MBI, HADS and SF-36 subscale scores of the subjects in the two groups were not statistically significantly different at baseline. However, after the seminars, there were significant differences in MBI subscale (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) scores of the groups (P < 0.05). The burnout levels significantly reduced in the intervention group, but there were no significant differences in the HADS and SF-36 scores of the groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that burnout among health care professionals may be reduced with psychoeducational seminars. Future studies supporting our finding might lead to implementation of such cost effective seminars for BMTU staff.

Keywords: Bone marrow transplantation unit, burnout, health staff, psychoeducation

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