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Original targeted therapy for the management of the burnout syndrome in nurses: an innovative approach and a new opportunity in the context of predictive, preventive and personalized medicine

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Abstract

Background

Currently considered an occupational disease, the burnout syndrome affects 13–27% of the active population in multiple occupational sectors of the modern world.

Objectives

Considering the burnout syndrome from the new perspective of the predictive, preventive, personalized medicine concept as a pathological entity with a predictable appearance and evolution which allows a preventive approach and a personalized therapy, the main objective of the study is to highlight the possibility of psychotherapeutic interventions for producing measurable psychological changes in order to decrease the burnout level of hospital nurses.

Method

The research design is experimental, the independent variable being the participation or non-participation of nurses in psychotherapeutic sessions where specific classical psychodrama techniques are originally used. Nurses previously identified with medium or high levels of burnout participated in the clinical study, split into two groups: the experimental one, with 150-min weekly sessions, and the control one, without any intervention. Pre- and post-intervention questionnaires were administered to the members of both groups.

Results

The statistical analysis of the differences between pre- and post-intervention revealed (a) the decrease of the levels of personal burnout and of burnout generated by the working conditions and (b) the decrease of the depression and of anxiety on four dimensions (self-awareness, ergic tension, veiled and general anxiety).

Conclusions

The classical psychodrama method can be an effective solution in the prophylaxis and treatment of the burnout syndrome. The multidisciplinary approach according to the PPPM concept including changes of the environmental factors within the professional framework associated with stress control programmes can be promising solutions for the management of this syndrome.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge that the development of the research was authorized by the nurses who participated in this study and the research team would like to thank the management team of the Emergency County Hospital Brasov for their cooperation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Transilvania University of Brașov, 29, Eroilor Street, 500036, Brașov, Romania

    Simona Grigorescu, Ana-Maria Cazan, Liliana Rogozea & Dan Ovidiu Grigorescu

  2. Emergency Clinical Children Hospital, 45, Nicopole Street, 500063, Brașov, Romania

    Simona Grigorescu

  3. Emergency Clinical County Hospital, 25-27, Calea București Street, 500326, Brașov, Romania

    Dan Ovidiu Grigorescu

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  1. Simona Grigorescu
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  2. Ana-Maria Cazan
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  3. Liliana Rogozea
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  4. Dan Ovidiu Grigorescu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dan Ovidiu Grigorescu.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. All authors approve the content of the manuscript and have contributed significantly to the research and the writing of the manuscript.

Ethical approval

The research did not involve any risk for the participants. All ethical guidelines were followed as required for conducting human research. The procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research, the study being approved to be run by the manager of the Emergency County Hospital Brasov, where the study was conducted and by the Committee for Ethical Research of Transylvania University of Brasov (Ethical approval number 06.2/2017). The research was also consistent with the ethical guidelines of The College of Psychologists in Romania. The research complies with the provisions of the Declaration of Helsinki (as revised in Brazil 2013). All the participants gave their informed consent for the research and their anonymity was preserved.

Authorship statement

The authors certify their contribution to this manuscript, as follows: study design (SG, LMR); data collection (SG, ODG) and analysis (SG, AMC); manuscript writing (SG, ODG, AMC).

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Grigorescu, S., Cazan, AM., Rogozea, L. et al. Original targeted therapy for the management of the burnout syndrome in nurses: an innovative approach and a new opportunity in the context of predictive, preventive and personalized medicine. EPMA Journal 11, 161–176 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13167-020-00201-6

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