Burnout of Nurses and Doctors in Niigata Prefecture, Japan

To facilitate the treatment and prevention of burnout in nurses and physicians, a survey on the social background and stress-coping styles involved in this syndrome was performed. (1) Nurses in a pre-burnout state were often married, in managerial positions, working at large hospitals, and were likely to take "challenging", "seeking help", and "diversion", but were unlikely to take "resignation", "taking it out on others", or "seeking treatment" as stress-coping styles. (2) Doctors in a pre-burnout state were unlikely to show "challenging", a task-orientated coping style, and were likely to show "taking it out on others", emotion-orientated coping. (3) This survey revealed that the stress-coping style is a major factor of burnout in nurses and doctors. The contents of task-orientated coping differed between nurses and doctors. "Taking it out on others", emotion-orientated coping, was observed in common.