Burnout has been identified as a significant problem for healthcare professionals in the UK, and is associated with reduced morale, increased absenteeism and high rates of staff turnover. Although burnout was recently added to the International Classification of Diseases, the term is not used consistently within the existing literature nor in the clinical environment. This research used a critical discursive psychology approach to consider how burnout was spoken about and subsequently how the meaning of the term was socially constructed. A team focus group design illustrated seven main descriptions (interpretative repertoires) of burnout. These repertoires were often contradictory and created ideological dilemmas as participants negotiated the use of conflicting repertoires. Participants most commonly positioned burnout as unacceptable and used a variety of rhetorical devices to distance themselves from burnout. The findings suggest that the meaning of burnout is more nuanced than the literature and the ICD-11 definition implies
