Stress and burnout among healthcare professionals working in a mental health setting in Singapore.
International literature suggests that the experience of high levels of stress by healthcare professionals has been associated with decreased work efficiency and high rates of staff turnover. The aims of this study are to identify the extent of stress and burnout experienced by healthcare professionals working in a mental health setting in Singapore and to identify demographic characteristics and work situations associated with this stress and burnout. A total of 220 Singaporean mental health professionals completed a cross-sectional survey, which included measures of stress, burnout (exhaustion and disengagement), participants' demographic details, and working situation. Independent t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were used to examine between-group differences in the dependent variables (stress and burnout). Analyses revealed that healthcare professionals below the age of 25, those with less than five years experience, and those with the lowest annual income, reported the highest levels of stress and burnout. No significant differences were found with other demographic or work situation variables. Findings suggest that healthcare professionals working in a mental health setting in Singapore are experiencing relatively high levels of stress and burnout. It is important that clinicians, administrators and policy makers take proactive steps to develop programs aimed at reducing stress and burnout for healthcare professionals. These programs are likely to also increase the well-being and resilience of healthcare professionals and improve the quality of mental health services in Singapore.
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Institute of Mental Health, 10 Buangkok Green Medical Park, Singapore 539747, Singapore. Electronic address: suyi_yang@imh.com.sg.
Suyi
S
Yang
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
Pamela
P
Meredith
School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.
Asaduzzaman
A
Khan
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002055:Burnout, Professional / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D012306:Risk; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
Burnout; Healthcare professionals; Mental health; Stress; Survey