Stress-Inducing Factors vs. the Risk of Occupational Burnout in the Work of Nurses and Paramedics

Introduction: Contemporary healthcare faces new challenges and expectations from society. The profession of a nurse, as well as a paramedic, is essential for the efficient functioning of healthcare. It has its importance not only in promoting and preserving health but also in prevention. With the increasing importance of providing medical care at the highest level, it is expected of these two professional groups to have more knowledge and skills than a few years earlier. The daily contact with patients and their families, the low level of control of the environment, the hierarchical system of professional dependence, and the dissatisfaction with remuneration are becoming extremely burdensome aspects of the nursing and paramedic professions. Long-term exposure to stressors associated with these medical professions may, in the long term, lead to the emergence of occupational burnout syndrome. The aim of this study is an attempt to answer the question of whether and how stress factors affect the occurrence of occupational burnout in the work of nurses and paramedics working in various medical entities. Material and Methods: The study covered a group of 434 respondents, including 220 nurses and 214 paramedics, working professionally in hospital departments and care and treatment facilities as well as in hospital emergency departments and ambulance services. The study was carried out using a diagnostic survey based on the questionnaire technique using the authors’ questionnaire and the standardized MBI Ch. Maslach. Two statistical values were used to statistically analyze the research results and verify the adopted hypotheses: the chi-square test and the Student’s t-test. Results and Conclusions: The current study showed that the phenomenon of occupational burnout among the studied group affects only nurses, while this problem does not apply to the studied paramedics. The main stressor among the nurses and paramedics is, above all, a very high level of responsibility. Nurses are overburdened by excessive demands and shift work, while paramedics are mostly burdened by an excess of duties. Both nurses and paramedics claim that their work is often stressful, which leads to physical and mental exhaustion.