Moral distress and Burnout syndrome: are there relationships between these phenomena in nursing workers?

Objective: to identify relationships between moral distress and Burnout in the professional performance from the perceptions of the experiences of nursing workers. Methods: this is a survey type study with 375 nursing workers working in three different hospitals of southern Rio Grande do Sul, with the application of adaptations of the Moral Distress Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory, validated and standardized for use in Brazil. Data validation occurred through factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha. For the data analysis bivariate analysis using Pearson’s correlation and multivariate analysis using multiple regression were performed. Results: the existence of a weak correlation between moral distress and Burnout was verified. A possible positive correlation between Burnout and therapeutic obstinacy, and a negative correlation between professional fulfillment and moral distress were identified. Conclusion: the need was identified for further studies that include mediating and moderating variables that may explain more clearly the models studied

The Sociophysiology of Caring in the Doctor-patient Relationship

The emotional investment required to construct a caring doctor-patient relationship can be justified on humane grounds. Can it also be justified as a direct physiologic intervention? Two lines of evidence point in this direction. People in an empathic relationship exhibit a correlation of indicators of autonomic activity. This occurs between speakers and responsive listeners, members of a coherent group, and bonded pairs of higher social animals. Furthermore, the experience of feeling cared about in a relationship reduces the secretion of stress hormones and shifts the neuroendocrine system toward homeostasis. Because the social engagement of emotions is simultaneously the social engagement of the physiologic substrate of those emotions, the process has been labeled sociophysiology. This process can influence the health of both parties in the doctor-patient relationship, and may be relevant to third parties