Staff stress and burnout in a community adult mental health service.

Objectives: Burnout has been associated with medical errors and low levels should be considered an indicator of service quality. This study examined the level of personal, work and client-related burnout in medical, other clinical and non-clinical staff in an adult community mental health service.

Methods: An anonymous study-specific questionnaire was designed and circulated to all staff with an explanatory document. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory was used as a validated measure of burnout, with high levels reflecting high rates of stress and burnout. Further questions were added from Maslach Burnout Inventory and effort-reward imbalance index. Information on demographics, job satisfaction, turnover intention, feeling valued and effort/reward balance was gathered and analysed.

Results: The overall response rate was 47.4% (63/133), of whom 43 were clinical staff. Overall levels of burnout were low and similar across staff type, with only 30.1% showing moderate levels of burnout, and none in the 'high-burnout' category. All staff displayed positive disposition towards patients, with lower client burnout, as compared to personal and work-related burnout. All medical staff felt valued in their work, with lower rates in the other groups (48.7% of non-medical clinicians and 58.3% of non-clinical staff).

Conclusions: Relatively low levels of overall burnout were reported among clinical and non-clinical staff working in our adult mental health service. These rates are similar to the levels identified in a national study of burnout in Irish hospital doctors but lower than the levels found among consultants in Irish child and adolescent mental health services.