...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Jamie Turner BSHS 462-Building Community in Organizations February 28, 2011 Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Burnout amongst human services staff is an issue that could take a toll on a person health. It can also be big concern within the agency. Human service worker job can be overwhelming and stressful, especially when dealing with heavy caseloads, forced to work overtime, being on call after hours, and trying to balance a schedule between work and home. I will define burnout and describe some of the individual, cultural, organizational, supervisory, and social support factors that cause burnout. I will discuss various individual, job role, and organizational methods to prevent burnout. I will examine my own personality and share how I may react and respond to personal and work-related stress, and how to reduce the effects of burnout. Lastly, I will discuss what to do as a human service manager to be alert and ready to assist with staff burnout. Burnout Burnout is a state of exhaustion, whether it is physical, mental, or emotional, which is cause by excessive and tedious stress (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). Burnout has three major factors: “emotional exhaustion, feelings of low personal accomplishment with clients, and a sense of depersonalization feelings” (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). Individual, Cultural, Organizational, Supervisory, and Social Support Factors...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff • Burnout Burnout is “a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion resulting from involvement with people in emotionally demanding situations” (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007, p. 132). Another definition of the term “burnout” is coined by a psychologist named Herbert Freudenthal. Freudenthal states that burnout is a psychological condition caused by unrelieved work stress that results in: lacking physical energy and emotional exhaustion, more susceptible to illnesses, interpersonal relationships become impersonal, dissatisfaction and pessimism abound, absenteeism and work inefficiency are noticeable (Hatfield & Gray, n.d.). • Describe individual, cultural, organizational, supervisory, and social support factors that cause burnout Individual factors that cause burnout are personalities such as a “Type A or Type B” personality profiles or possessing unrealistic career goals or expectations, such as wanting to become president of a company after one year may result in burnout (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007, p. 133). Some cultural factors that cause burnout are the aspects of culture that include a feeling of disconnect with the community, the frustration that comes with not meeting the expectations of maximizing one’s work potential, and dealing with widespread competition (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007, p. 134). Organizational factors that cause burnout are a lack of flexible management philosophies, lack...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Paper University of Phoenix Angela Arington April 30, 2014 Burnout, in the human services field, can be a common factor among employees. To reduce employee burnout it is important to look at contributing factors causing employee burnout to find methods of prevention. Reaction and responses to high-stress conditions from a personal perspective will follow, while providing useful methods into how as a human service professional, I can reduce the effects of burnout. Burnout is defined as a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion that comes from prolonged emotional stressors, interpersonal stressors, and workplace stressors. Burnout can happen when being involved with people in high stress jobs, and emotionally demanding situations (Lewis, 2007). Three factors to consider when identifying burnout are emotional exhaustion, a sense of depersonalization, and a feeling of low personal accomplishment with clients. The feeling of being overwhelmed can become present when trying to meet the constant demands as a human service professional. The causes of burnout can vary individually, culturally, organizationally, supervisory, and through social supports. Individuals with Type A personalities, uncompromising management philosophies, the lack of motivation from employees, the absence of participative decision making, and policies created by the organization that go against employees’ cultural beliefs create...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Lillie Cain-Mitchell BSHS/462 January 21, 2013 David Worsley Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff In today’s society, there are many human services agencies and organizations that employ several thousand employees over the United States. Because of a tremendous increase of clients seen in an agency or organization, the employees demonstrated burnout. Burnout is a contributing factor in employees losing time off from work or even seeking medical intervention. If an employee or employees suffer from burnout, this could also lead to a decrease in the organization’s productivity. Burnout An employee who suffers from some form of burnout would experience emotional, and mental, and physical fatigue. These symptoms would occur when an employee has become involved in emotional and demanding dilemmas. There are three significant factors that contributes to employee burnout (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007): 1. temperamental fatigue 2. possessing personal low esteem achievement in regard to clients 3. having an attitude where there is no concern for the clients Burnout Causes On an individual level, an employee may present with a Type A Personality (Scott, 2006). An employee who presents with this form of burnout would be a host to cardiac problems, health issues, and complications in his or her lifestyle. An employee could also demonstrate bouts of impatience and unexplainable...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Kristina M. Murkowski University of Phoenix BSHS/432 Melinda Barker, May 9, 2011 Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Burnout has been seen more and more among human services staff. Many individuals in the human services field got into that type work because they enjoy helping others, but in the same breath are more likely to become emotionally involved and there for suffer burnout more then those who can separate personal feelings and work. This paper discusses what burnout really is based on the description given by Maslach and Leiter. Further more, the paper goes into describing different causes of burnout and ways to prevent it. This paper also examines the writers own personality while sharing personal reactions to work-related stress. Lastly, the paper talks about be alert and assisting with potential staff burnout. What is Burnout Burnout is a syndrome of physical and emotional exhaustion, involving the development of negative self-concept, negative job attitudes, and a loss of concern and feelings for clients (Bbnet, 1995). Burnout spreads gradually and continuously over time, putting people into a downward spiral from which it is hard to recover; you become chronically exhausted; you become cynical and detached from your work; and you feel increasingly ineffective on the job (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Causes Different industries, whether factory work...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Jennifer Ishida BSHS/462 University of Phoenix October 31, 2011 David Worsely Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Many individuals in the human services field got into that type work because they enjoy helping others. Workers suffer burnout more than those who can separate personal feelings and work. This paper will review what burnout really is based on the description given by Maslach and Leiter, it will also describe different causes of burnout and ways to prevent it. This paper also examines the authors personality and how she reacts to personal or work-related stress. She will provide some insights into how to reduce the effects of burnout. This paper will also review what to do as a human service manager to be alert to help staff with his or her burnout. Burnout Burnout is physical and emotional exhaustion, involving the development of negative self-concept, negative job attitudes, and a loss of concern and feelings for clients (Bbnet, 1995). Burnout spreads over time, putting people into a situation that is not easy to recover from; an individual becomes chronically exhausted, cynical, and detached from his or her work and he or she begins to think he or she is ineffective while at work (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). High stress jobs are demanding and are cause for higher rates of burnout among others. When employees become burnt out he or she begins to lose sight of how...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout Carrie Frazier, MSW/LCSW Causes and Prevention of Burnout Every human service organization experiences burnout in different ways this is an issue that will have an effect on the staff member’s personal and work life. Burnout can also be one of the main issues within the organization. Human service employee’s jobs can be stressful and overwhelming, particularly when having many clients, required to work overtime, and attempting to balance his or her workload with his or her home life. Burnout may have many causes, but there are preventions to help people to avoid burnout as well. Burnout According to Johnson and Stone, burnout “refers to a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion resulting from involvement with people in emotionally demanding situations” (Johnson & Stone, 1987p.67). Burnout decreases an employee’s productivity and drains his or her energy, leaving him or her to feel more hopeless, resentful, and helpless. In the end the employee, possibly will feel as if he or have nothing else to offer anyone. Causes of Burnout There are many causes of burnout in the world today. In most situations, burnout may come from a job. A person who believes he or she is undervalued and overworked is facing the possibility of becoming burnout. If a person is working hard for a company daily for year and have not received a raise or vacation, being single...
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...Cause and Prevention of Burnout in Human Service Staff Arlyne Magallanez-Ochoa University of Phoenix BSHS 462 April 18, 2011 Mr. Kevin L. Benbow, MA, LPC Cause and Prevention of Burnout in Human Service Staff Definition of Burnout- "a breakdown of the psychological defense [that] workers use to adapt and cope with intense job-related stressors" and "a syndrome in which a worker feels emotionally exhausted or fatigued, withdraws emotionally from their clients, and perceives a diminution of their achievements or accomplishments (CWLA, 2002) another definition is-Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands. As the stress continues, you begin to lose the interest or motivation that led you to take on a certain role in the first place (Help Guide-A Trusted Non-Profit Resource, 2011). Symptoms are; emotional exhausted, Feeling as though they have low personal accomplishment with clients, loss of autonomy, Lack of recognition or rewards for good work, and Working in a chaotic or high-pressure environment. These are just a few symptoms of Burnout. Describe some of the individual, culture, organizational. Supervisory and social support factors that cause burnout- Burnout has a serious effect on human service staff, clients, and organization. According to the text possible causes of burnout may be: (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007) Individual-Personality...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Paper Deniece C. Robins University of Phoenix BSHS/462 May 2, 2011 Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Human service professionals work under many conditions that make them susceptible to experiencing burnout. This paper will define burnout and discuss some of the individual, organizational, and cultural support factors that cause human service professionals to experience burnout (Lewis, 2007). Various individual, job role, and organizational methods employed to prevent burnout will also be addressed (Lewis, 2007). Deniece will discuss how she reacts and respond to personal and work-related stress and give insight into how she works to reduce the effects of burnout (Lewis, 2007). Last, Deniece will identify how she prepares to assist staff who she believes may be experiencing burnout. Human Service Professional Burnout Many human service professionals fall victim to employee burnout, mainly because of heavy caseloads, minimal resources, and tremendously cut budgets. These individuals may start to experience a sense of increasing emotional and physical exhaustion, hopelessness, and loss of motivation. Employees experiencing these feeling are experiencing employee burnout. Many times the employee is not aware of what is happening to him or her at the time. Burnout has three defined dimensions; emotional exhaustion that is the feeling of being psychologically detached...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Tiffany Monroe BSHS/462- Effective Management of Human Service Organization May 20, 2013 Latera Davis Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services The human service field faces a major issue of burnout among their employees. In this paper I will define burnout and describe some of the factors of burnout. I will examine my own personality and share my reactions and responses to personal and work related stress. I will also discuss my response to an employee burnout as a human service manager. Burnout According to Johnson and Stone (1987), burnout refers to a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion resulting from involvement with people in emotionally demanding situations (p. 67). There are three major factors of burnout: emotional exhaustion, feeling of low personal accomplishment with clients, and a sense of depersonalization or possessing an uncaring attitude towards clients. When an employee shows physical burnout signs, this includes the appearance of fatigue, frequent absentees from work, having physical complaints, and weight loss. Behavioral signs of burnout include isolation, withdrawal from work responsibilities, procrastination, the use of alcohol, drugs, over eating of food, frequent outbursts of anger toward other workers, and increase absentee from work. Emotional signs include feeling helpless, personal failure, detachment from work and others, decrease of satisfaction, and an increase...
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...cause and prevention of burnout The human service field can be stressful for the professionals and wreck havoc to the organization. Burnout affects the employees as well as the organization; an organization suffers from burnout by having high turnover rates, accidents, and so on. This paper will define burnout and describe some of the individual, cultural, organizational, and social support factors that cause burnout. The paper provides an explanation of various individual, job role, and organizational methods to prevent burnout. In this paper I have shared the ways I react and respond to personal and work related stress as well as my reaction to combat the effects of burnout. Lastly this paper discussed how human service managers assist with staff burnout. Define Burnout According to help guide (2012,” Burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed and unable to meet constant demands”. As the stress continues it causes you to lose interest or motivation I your work role. Individual, Cultural, Organizational, Supervisory, & Social Support Causes of Burnout Human service professionals may become overwhelmed and stressed especially when dealing with large case loads, overtime, and balancing work and home duties. Some of the personal lifestyle stressors include insufficient sleep, little or no time off, lack of social supports, and so on. Cultural factors contributing...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Work-related stress is known to cost the economy of the United States an estimated $300 billion in sick time, long-term disability, and excessive job turnover. According to Isatou (2014), “Jobs that are stressful can be just as harmful to women as smoking and obesity.” This research was also recognized in an article written by the Department of Health and Human Services. When having to take care of someone who is sick or disabled, this can cause major burnout especially if the situation is chronic and professionals barely have any support. When it comes to difficult situations such as big case loads, difficult clients within agencies, lack of teamwork, and poor management supervision; this causes exhaustion or also known as burnout. In this paper, there will be a definition of the term burnout and the factors that cause it. There will also be a discussion about ways to prevent burnout and how to assist with staff burnout within a human service organization. I will then share with you how I personally handle work-related stress and how I go about reducing the effects of burnout. Burnout Herbert Freudenberger came up with the term “burnout” in the early 80’s. He defined the term as, “a debilitating psychological condition brought about by work stress which eventually resulted in depleted energy and exhaustion, illness, increased depersonalization in interpersonal relationships, and a dissatisfaction in work” (Lee, Johnson...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Ashley James BSHS/462 January 28, 2013 Linda Latson Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Burnout is a serious problem that mostly occurs in high stress level jobs. Burnouts are very popular in the Human Services field since it contains a lot of high intensity jobs. The definition of burnout, what causes burnout, burnout prevention, personal reactions and responses to high-stress situations, and ways to reduce personal and work-related burnout will be discussed in this paper. Ideas of how to respond and react to employee burnout as a human services manager will follow. Burnout is the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest. This includes physical, mental, or emotional, that an individual experiences when under extreme stress. Burnout can be split into three major features which include emotional exhaustion, feelings of decreased successful outcomes with clients, and increased feelings of being de-sensitized to the needs of clients (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). How pressure is dealt with depends on how much stress an individual feels. It also depends on how close the individual is to burnout. An individual experience a little stress and may not be able to handle it well and experience burnout, a posed to another individual who may experience a lot of stress and may be able to deal with it and avoid burnout. Drained appearance and fatigue may be signs of Burnout has many causes which...
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...Burnout Planning Vivian Atcherson BSHS 462 February 24, 2013 Latera Davis Burnout Planning Burnout on-the-job usually happens in human service work in high stress environment and has signs of emotional fatigue, exhausted, doubt of professional achievements and feelings of disconnection from clients. A worker wanting to climb the ladder of the organization after a short time may show “the type A personality” wanting to move away from clients and be in this for power and more money. Besides burnout poor attitude in the vision or mission with a competitive, non- trusting attitude quickly will bring an employee to burnout signs. The burned out staff has client problems displayed by the employee, developing multiple issues with clients, and negativity. The cause can be work related problems such as high case load, lack of choices and autonomy, lack of rewards, disrespect, and belief discrepancies among the team. Burnout is added to by events at work, such as a supervisor lack of participation in supporting the employees, who may experience burnout also. A lack of employee involvement in team planning, problem-solving, and lack of motivation from peers and...
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...Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Latonia Gover BSHS/462 October 30, 2011 Mary Beth Bova Causes and Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Burnout is a bad situation to have to face, the best thing for this type of situation is to pay attention and to know the signs. The definition of burnout is a state of believing he or she is overwhelmed coming from prolongs high stress. The discussion of burnout has regard to individual, cultural, organization, supervisor, and social support factors that cause burnout. In the discussion I will share ways to prevent burnout, ways to recognize it once it has happened and ways to handle burnout after it has occurred. I will examine my own personality and share an example of how burnout has affected me in the past and what I will do at my next opportunity of employment. The definition of burnout in a work sense it refers to a state of overwhelming feeling, emotional listlessness, and depression because prolong levels of high stress (Scott, 2010) this is usually work-related or in life demands. Some symptoms of burnout is lack of motivation, irritability, physical systems slows down, headaches or fatigue, loss of creativity, anger, not wanting to go to work or do anything, and a change in sleep pattern (Scott, 2011). Those who face burnout feel as if he or she has no control over their lives, receive little recognition for accomplishments, have unclear expectations placed on them, and lack...
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