Representatives of professions related to communication are most prone to professional emotional burnout. As a result of external and internal factors, a person becomes indifferent to others and no longer feels the value of life. A medic not only performs his job worse, but he also has problems with mental and physical health. Burnout occurs due to the long-term impact of professional psych-traumatic factors on a person. Large volumes of work, improper organization of work, pressure from patients and their relatives, pressure from the authorities lead to the syndrome of professional burnout of medical workers.
The professional activity of medical workers involved in the treatment and rehabilitation of patients suggests emotional saturation and a high percentage of factors that cause stress. This paper will consider an article authored by Stephen T. Odonkor and Kwasi Frimpong. The purpose of this article is to assess the level of emotional burnout faced by medical professionals in Accra, Ghana (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). The research contains quantitative features since there are structured data that are assigned some numerical characteristics. At the same time, the study has the parts of a qualitative one since it contains an analysis and interpretation of the collected data. Thus, it is possible to conclude that the research is mixed. This approach is practical since it allows collecting and processing the data required to understand the problem under study and its solution quickly.
This study was conducted between September 2018 and December 2018 in twelve medical institutions in the capital of Ghana. The survey was attended by medical workers who fall under the following categories: doctors, nurses, pharmacists, scientists of medical laboratories, and radiologists (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). The method of selecting the study participants is correct since it allows one to look at burnout from the point of view of doctors and nurses, and pharmacists (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). Medical workers of various profiles took part in the survey, so it is possible to conclude that there are no biases in this method. To collect the necessary information, a stratified sampling technique was used (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). After that, a cross-section design was used to obtain quantitative data. The survey and analysis of the results obtained were done with all possible seriousness and thoroughness. Mathematical formulas were used, which allowed reducing possible errors to a minimum.
As for the ethical side of the issue, the study was completely ethical. The Ethics Review Committee approved it of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). Moreover, all the survey participants were asked for oral and written consent. All participants were informed about the purpose of the study and that participation in the survey is voluntary. Refusal to participate in the study would not affect their professional employment and attitude towards them in any way. In addition, the participants were guaranteed confidentiality, and they could not answer some questions if they did not want to (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). Thus, it is possible to conclude that the conditions of the study were as comfortable, safe, and ethically correct as possible.
The analysis of the obtained data took place in several stages. Firstly, the data was translated into spreadsheets and then exported to SPSS version 23 and encoded for analysis, consisting of descriptive and logical statistics (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). The researchers employed descriptive statistics to describe the variables of interest. To identify the frequency of socio-demographic characteristics and other variables of the studied population, a one-dimensional analysis was used. After that, the data were analyzed using contingency tables, except for t-tests that corresponded to continuous data, for example, age. According to Odonkor & Frimpong (2020), “the chi-squared (χ2) tests were used to assess the bivariate relationships between these factors as well as for the difference in proportions and other categorical variables” (p. 3). This method of analyzing the obtained data can be called suitable since it was necessary to find numerical dependencies that would provide reliable and accurate results.
The results of the study were presented in several tables responsible for various indicators. Among the hands, the following can be listed: demographic characteristics, belonging to a group of medical workers, differences in the degree of burnout, and others (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). The study results clearly showed which groups of medical workers are most susceptible to burnout at work. The data showed that women, nurses, and older people aged 41 to 50 years are most at risk. Thus, this study’s results clearly show a strong relationship between burnout and socio-demographic qualities: gender, age, level of education, profession, work experience, marital status, and children (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). The study was aimed at analyzing the burnout of medical workers in Ghana, which means that the results obtained are entirely consistent with the task.
In their work, the authors compared the results obtained several times with the results of other researchers in this field. They pointed out that the resulting percentage of burnout of medical workers differs from the data of a similar study by Pavelková and Bužgová, Whitebird et al., and Alkema et al., where the degree of burnout is significantly lower (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). The authors of this study noted that nurses were the most vulnerable among the professions in medical institutions in terms of burnout, which coincides with the results of the study by Chou et al. (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). The data on the vulnerability of older people to burnout obtained in this study are consistent with the work done by Bijari and Abassi on the same topic (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). Thus, many authors were engaged in research activities in this field.
This study thoroughly examines the factors and indicators of professional burnout among medical professionals. The strengths of this work are a large number of people interviewed and a variety of criteria, between which the researchers managed to find a direct connection. The analysis of the obtained results was carried out correctly and took into account a lot of numerical data. Nevertheless, there are also weaknesses, which the authors of the study themselves note. Firstly, it is worth mentioning that the study results relate to only one period of time, which means that they may soon lose relevance (Odonkor & Frimpong, 2020). Secondly, the study was conducted only in twelve medical institutions to be different from other institutions. Thirdly, it is necessary to remember the human factor since the answers to the questions can be greatly exaggerated or understated.
The results of this study are directly related to nursing practice since it is nurses who are most susceptible to burnout at work. The relevance of this study is that it allows focusing on those medical staff who suffer the most, especially in the context of today’s pandemic. The value of this study lies in the fact that it provides the data necessary for the state to take specific measures to improve the conditions of physical labor for medical workers. Thanks to the results obtained, it becomes evident that people experiencing professional burnout need support and proper care.
Reference
Odonkor, S., T., & Frimpong K. (2020). Burnout among healthcare professionals in Ghana: A Critical assessment. BioMed Research International, 2020(1614968), 8.