Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff

Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff

Melissa Hallman

BSHS/462

May 16, 2013

Karen Korotzer

Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff

High-stress jobs such as those in the human service field can cause serious issues such as burnout. Burnout can show up in a multitude of ways for employees. For organizations this can cause a large number of sick days or they may experience a high turnover rate. Human service workers enter the workforce full of hopes of making changes for those people who they want to work. Like every other job there is always a high hope of helping others and optimism that change will happen but because of the significant amount of work stress occurs that often leads to burnout.

Definition

"Burnout is a state of exhaustion, whether it is physical, mental, or emotional that an individual experiences when under extreme stress. Burnout can be identified by three major features: emotional exhaustion, feelings of decreased successful outcomes with clients, and increased feelings of being de-sensitized to the needs of clients" (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007, p 132 and 133). Those who suffer from burnout may show emotional, behavioral, or physical symptoms. Emotional symptoms maybe helplessness, decreased satisfaction, feeling of failure or feeling drained and may also have more absences because of illness. Behavioral symptoms may include withdrawal, procrastinations, anger, frustration, or the need for isolation. Physical symptoms can be fatigue, changes in weight, and increase of physical complaints.

Individual, job role, and organization methods that causes burnout

One issue that may cause burnout for individuals in the workplace could be the lack of feeling control. This could include the inability to affect decisions in his or hers job that could include his or her workload, assignments, and schedules. There could also be the lack of needed resources. A second issued is job expectations are unclear. When the degree of authority is unclear, and a person is unsure of what expectations are work may start to feel uncomfortable. Third, if the workplace is dysfunctional with perhaps an office bully a person may believe that his or hers work is being micromanaged or undermined by either colleagues or possibly his or her boss. A fourth reason could be that the job is just not a good fit. If he or she believes that he or she is not using his or her skills or interests than the job over time may become more stressful. Last, are extreme activities of the job. Chaotic or monotonous jobs may lead to job burnout or fatigue because the need of constant focus or energy.

Individuals, job roles, and organizations methods to prevent burnout

"Burnout has an adverse impact on work productivity and therefore on organizational effectiveness. Human service agencies cannot afford the loss of productivity involved when an active, enthusiastic professional burns out. This process can never be completely prevented because