Burnout syndrome in nursing assistants of a public hospital in the state of São Paulo.

INTRODUCTION The burnout syndrome is a psychosocial phenomenon that arises as a response to chronic interpersonal stressors present at work. There are many aspects that make nursing assistants vulnerable to chronic stress situations that may lead to burnout, highlighting the low degree of autonomy in the healthcare staff and spending more in direct contact with patients. OBJECTIVES To assess the prevalence of the burnout syndrome in nursing assistants in a public hospital, as well as its association with socio-demographic and professional variables. METHODS A socio-demographic and professional questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI-SS) were applied to 534 nursing assistants. RESULTS The prevalence of burnout syndrome among nursing assistants was 5.9%. High emotional exhaustion was observed in 23.6%, 21.9% showed high depersonalization, and 29.9% low professional achievement. It was found statistically significant associations between emotional exhaustion, job sector and marital status; depersonalization, having children and health problems; low professional achievement and job sector and number of jobs. There was association between job satisfaction and the three dimensions. CONCLUSISON Professionals working in the health area must pay intense and extended attention to people who are dependent upon others. The intimate contact of the nursing assistants with hard-to-handle patients, as well as being afraid to make mistakes in healthcare are additional chronic stress factors and burnout syndrome cases related in this study.