Emotional burnout in medical workers during the work in extreme conditions

Abstract

Medical staff is exposed to a complex of adverse occupational factors of physical, chemical, and biological nature, high severity and intensity of the labor process. Unsatisfactory working conditions are associated with health risks for medical personnel and can lead to occupational and work-related diseases. The most often occupational diseases detected in medical staff are infectious ones. In the context of the spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the probability of infection of the medical personnel themselves with possible damage to organs and body systems with a subsequent disability is high. The article pays considerable attention to the high level of neuro-emotional stress, the problem of burnout, accompanying the work of medical personnel, especially in extreme conditions, which include epidemics and pandemics, in particular the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevalence of burnout syndrome (BS) among medical personnel in many countries has reached crisis proportions, exceeding the level of any other occupational group. Despite a significant number of studies related to the study of BS in medical personnel, there are still difficulties with its diagnosis, primarily associated with the subjectivity of the methods used; there is little scientific evidence about the clinical manifestations of BS, its symptoms. The study of the phenomenon of emotional burnout, its prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation is relevant in connection with the direct relationship of BS not only to maintaining the health, mental stability, and professional longevity of specialists involved in long-term interpersonal communication but also to the preservation of the patients’ health. It is necessary to discuss making additions to the list of occupational diseases and to the list of harmful and dangerous industrial factors and works in which preliminary and periodic medical examinations are carried out, concerning medical staff whose working conditions are associated with the high nervous and emotional stress, in particular during work in extreme conditions.