Coping with Burnout: The Emotional Burden on Healthcare Professionals in Maternity Services
A Qualitative study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33897/fujp.v10i2.990Keywords:
Miscarriage care, Maternity services, Healthcare professionals, Burnout, Mental wellbeing, Coping mechanisms, Emotional labour, Secondary traumatic stress, Maternity nurses, Institutional support, GynecologistsAbstract
Background. Those healthcare professionals working in the field of maternity are very much exposed to miscarriage and other trauma related with it and holds an emotional burden on them, yet this area remains underexplored. This research helps in uncovering the coping mechanisms of Gynecologists and nurses and how this affects their mental wellbeing and job with a focus on emotional burden and coping responses.
Method. For data collection, semi structured interviews were conducted including (n=5) gynecologists and (n=3) nurses. This was done through purposive sampling. Following the approach of Braun and Clark (2006,2021) thematic analysis was performed to identify the data patterns.
Results. As a result, following themes were identified: (1) Emotional Burden of working with reproductive loss, (2) Coping Strategies and personal resilience, (3) Collective support and workplace solidarity and (4) Systematic gaps and need for institutional support. Data from participants highlighted emotional pressure can be increased due to continuous exposure with miscarriage related trauma, which exceeds work related stress. Taking small breaks, engaging in recreational activities and connecting with supportive people shows great effort towards emotional regulation, however depending mainly the individual coping also reveals some of the gap formal institutional support. Emotional expression was appeared as one of the critical methods by which the participants were able to manage distress, furthermore highlighting the role of social relationships in lightening psychological strain. Personal anxieties of the participants were also reported due to ongoing exposure to reproductive loss, they showed concern of their own pregnancies which shows a mixture of professional and personal boundaries highlighting the deep effect of miscarriage exposure.
Discussion. These findings showcase the impact of social and cultural factors in Pakistani settings with respect to gynecologists and nurses working in maternity settings highlighting the emphasize on both personal coping strategies and institutional assistance.
Conclusion. This research highlights the necessity for context specific support system to enhance the wellbeing of healthcare professionals and the quality of care they deliver.
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