Burnout prevention in healthcare professionals during COVID-19

Introduction: the burnout syndrome represents the pathological outcome of a stressful process that affects people who exercise the "helping professions", when they are unable to respond adequately to workloads. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the pressure on healthcare systems has led to an increase in psychological distress among healthcare professionals and the burnout syndrome has assumed considerable dimensions, manifesting wear and tear, fatigue and occupational unproductiveness with frustration and professional disinterest. Methods: a sample of 40 operators of a Sicilian rehabilitation center was divided into two groups, the experimental group and the control group, both groups were administered the MBI in two stages (T0 and T1). Results: it was highlighted that the 20 subjects of the experimental group who practiced mindfulness in the time interval between T0 and T1 reported lower levels of burnout to the MBI. Conclusions: Our research hypothesizes that health professionals, after mindfulness, felt more caring towards patients and reported an improvement in interpersonal relationships and a resolution of conflict. This suggests the importance of burnout prevention especially during health emergencies