Investigation of work stress and burnout status of healthcare professionals working in a hospital in Edirne center

Background and Aim: Work stress and burnout have become a global public health problem. In Turkey, 68% of employees experience work stress, and 40-60% of healthcare professionals experience burnout. This study aims to examine the work stress, burnout and affecting factors of healthcare professionals working in a hospital in Edirne province. Material and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with 120 healthcare professionals working in a foundation hospital in Edirne province between September 25, 2023 and September 27, 2024. Data were collected face-to-face using the "Sociodemographic Information Form", "General Work Stress Scale" and "Maslach Burnout Inventory" and analyzed using SPSS (v.25) descriptive analyses, Tukey HSD, t test, one-way analysis of variance, regression and correlation analyses. The significance level was considered as p<0.05. Results: The majority of the participants were female (78.3%), single (58.3%), had an associate's degree (45.0%), were technicians (28.3%), had no chronic disease (83.3%), were not taking medication (83.3%) and were satisfied with their job (56.7%). The mean age of the sample was 32.66±11.55, average weekly working hours were 53.44±7.55 and average body mass index was 25.93±4.22 kg/m2. While the participants general work stress mean score was 3.10±1.13, the mean scores of the burnout scale sub-dimensions were as follows: emotional exhaustion 23.69±10.02, personal failure 15.12±8.16 and desensitization 10.75±5.56. It was observed that women, those with higher body mass index and weekly working hours, and smokers experienced more work stress and burnout, and that stress and burnout decreased as education level and job satisfaction increased. As participants work stress increased, their burnout level also increased (r=0.90, p<0.01). Conclusion: The study found that health workers had high levels of work stress and burnout. In order to prevent stress and burnout; gender-specific arrangements should be made, weekly working hours should be rearranged, employees should be supported in healthy nutrition and quitting smoking, and individual, environmental and organizational arrangements should be planned to increase staff satisfaction. Since the study results can be generalized to healthcare professionals working in a hospital between the specified dates, further studies on the subject with larger sample groups and long-term follow-ups are recommended.