Spouse burnout syndrome

In married couples, chronic illness in one partner can result in increased responsibilities for the spouse and lead to spouse burnout. Burnout has been described as a syndrome encompassing both physical and emotional symptoms. The literature has addressed the burnout syndrome experienced by health care professionals but few articles have addressed burnout in spouses of chronically ill persons. During a preliminary study of 30 chronically ill persons and their spouses, the following two questions were raised: Were the manifestations of the spouses similar to the indications of burnout exhibited by health professionals? and What factors in the home where one member was chronically ill contributed to the spouse's burnout? The three stages of burnout were examined. The emotional and physical symptoms of burnout in the first and second stages were very similar to symptoms identified in the spouses of our preliminary study. The spouses in our study did not exhibit signs or symptoms of the third stage. Three home situations were extrapolated from the study group in order to examine in depth specific examples of spouse burnout. Nurses have a responsibility to care for the spouse caregiver as well as the patient. The nurse must recognize behaviour which may be indicative of burnout syndrome. With this knowledge, the nurse is then better prepared to assist the spouse in prevention and/or early recognition and plan interventions accordingly.