Work stress level and burnout syndrome in resident doctors and nurses: a cross-sectional study in a public institution in Michoacán, México

Background: Burnout syndrome and work-related stress are on the rise among healthcare workers, affecting their mental health and job performance. Objective: To determine the level of work-related stress and burnout syndrome among primary care physicians and nurses. Materials and methods: Descriptive cross-sectional study. The study included healthcare workers from the General Hospital of Zone with Family Medicine No. 2, from January to June 2024, who agreed to participate. The Work Stress Test and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) for Burnout Syndrome were used. Descriptive statistics and Chi2 were used to determine associations between categorical variables with a p value <0.05. Results: A total of 90 workers were studied, with a mean age of 39.3±6 years, 17 (18.9%) family physicians, 22 (24.4%) non-family physicians, 5 (5.6%) general practitioners and 46 (51.1%) nurses. Work-related stress was present in 49 (54.4%): mild 30 (33.3%), medium 15 (16.7%) and high 4 (4.4%). Burnout was present in 54 (60.0%) health workers, low personal fulfillment 29 (32.2%), high emotional exhaustion 61 (67.8%) and high depersonalization 39 (43.3%). Female workers, those with married marital status, nursing staff, morning shift staff, those with 1 to 5 years of seniority and those from hospital areas were the most affected. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of work-related stress and burnout among healthcare workers, with the emotional exhaustion domain being most frequently affected. Therefore, mental health care is considered essential to providing improved quality medical care.