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Morale of mental health professionals in Community Mental Health Services of a Northern Italian Province

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2011

Gian Maria Galeazzi ,
Sara Delmonte ,
Walid Fakhoury  and
Stefan Priebe
Gian Maria Galeazzi*
Affiliation:
Unità Operativa di Psichiatria, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze TCR, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena
Sara Delmonte
Affiliation:
Unità Operativa di Psichiatria, Dipartimento di Neuroscienze TCR, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena
Walid Fakhoury
Affiliation:
Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Barts and The London School of Medicine, University of London, London
Stefan Priebe
Affiliation:
Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry, Barts and The London School of Medicine, University of London, London
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. G.M. Galeazzi, Clinica Psichiatrica, Via del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena (Italia). Fax: +39-059-422.4307 E-mail: galeazzi@unimo.it
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Abstract

Summary

Aims — To explore morale of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses working in Community Mental Health Centres (CMHC) in an Italian Province, and identify influential factors. Methods — Thirty psychiatrists and 30 nurses working in CMHCs in Modena completed questionnaires on burnout, team identity and job satisfaction. They also answered open questions about different aspects of their work. Answers were subjected to content analysis. Regression analyses were used to identify factors that predicted morale across groups. Results — Psychiatrists had higher scores on emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. There were no significant differences between the two groups in job satisfaction and job or role perception. Professionals reported positive relationships with patients as the most enjoyable aspects of their job, whilst team conflicts and high workloads were seen as most difficult to cope with. Multivariate analyses showed that being a psychiatrist and perceiving team conflicts as a main cause of pressure in the job predicted higher burnout. Conclusions — Simple open questions coupled with quantitative measures appear a promising tool to investigate morale of mental health professionals and identify factors determining morale. Research, training and service development should focus on relationship aspects both with patients and within teams to reduce burnout in CMHCs.

Declaration of Interest

G.M.G. was employed by Modena local mental health service, but did not work in CMHCs. No other conflict of interest.

Keywords

burnoutjob satisfactioncommunity mental health services.
Type
Original Papers
Information
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences , Volume 13 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 191 - 197
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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