Association between culture of patient safety and burnout in pediatric hospitals

INTRODUCTION: Providing safety culture is the first and undoubtedly most important feature that patient care should have, as it is the basis for other measures. There are associations between Burnout Syndrome and lower perceptions of safety culture and greater risks in patient safety. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between patient safety culture and burnout in pediatric hospitals. METHOD: This is a cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach performed with health professionals who work in pediatric hospitals located in the Metropolitan Region of Cariri, Northeastern Brazil. The study enrolled 148 professionals who performed direct health care for the child in three different hospitals. For the evaluation of the Patient Safety Culture, the version, translated and validated for Brazil, of the Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) questionnaire was applied and to evaluate the occurrence of Burnout, we chose the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). RESULTS: Among the dimensions of burnout that presented the most moderate to high, depersonalization and low professional achievement stand out. When considering the syndrome with the professional who presented a "high" score in only one of the three dimensions, it was identified that 44.6% presented the disease. All patient safety dimensions studied correlated with some dimension of burnout. CONCLUSION: The study evidenced the influence of all patient safety domains for the development of burnout syndrome in pediatric professionals. Also, it was identified that the organizational climate is the main determinant of burnout, especially in what refers to "teamwork between units".