Burnout of caregivers: a comparison between partners of psychiatric patients and nurses

Care of a person with mental illness involves multiple burdens, possibly leading to burnout. This study compares partners of persons with schizophrenia and depression with nursing staff based on dimensions of burnout. Nursing staff and partners of patients with schizophrenia or depression were consecutively recruited from psychiatric hospitals and interviewed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory. No significant differences were found in the three dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) for the two groups of caregivers. About one fourth of the respondents in both groups showed a high degree of burnout. Professional and nonprofessional caregivers face a similar degree of burden and need support to perform their caretaking tasks.