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Übertherapie und emotionale Erschöpfung in der „end-of-life care“

Ergebnisse einer Mitarbeiterumfrage auf der Intensivstation

Non-beneficial therapy and emotional exhaustion in end-of-life care

Results of a survey among intensive care unit personnel

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Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund

„End-of-life care“ (EOLC) auf der Intensivstation gewinnt an Bedeutung, jedoch gefährdet der zunehmende ökonomische Druck die Umsetzung ethischer Anforderungen.

Fragestellung

Ist die Arbeitsumgebung der EOLC mit der Wahrnehmung von Übertherapie oder Burn-out assoziiert?

Material und Methoden

Ärzte und Pflegekräfte an 11 deutschen Intensivstationen, die 2015–2016 an einer internationalen prospektiven Längsschnittbeobachtungsstudie der EOLC teilnahmen, wurden mit validierten Instrumenten befragt. Risikofaktoren wurden mit hierarchischen linearen Modellen ermittelt.

Ergebnisse

Es nahmen 325 Pflegekräfte, 91 Stationsärzte und 26 Oberärzte teil. Pflegekräfte nahmen Übertherapie häufiger wahr als Stations- und Oberärzte. Prädiktoren für die Wahrnehmung von Übertherapie waren die Profession, die Zusammenarbeit im EOL-Kontext, eine zu hohe Arbeitsintensität (jeweils p ≤ 0,001) sowie die Anzahl der Wochenendarbeitstage/Monat (p = 0,012). Für die emotionale Erschöpfung wirkten eine intensivmedizinische Spezialisierung (p = 0,001) sowie die emotionale Unterstützung im Team (p ≤ 0,001) protektiv, während die emotionale Erschöpfung durch Kontakt mit Angehörigen am Lebensende und eine zu hohe Arbeitsintensität (jeweils p ≤ 0,001) jeweils erhöht wurde.

Diskussion

Am Beispiel EOLC wurden Defizite der Arbeitsumgebung und Stressfaktoren aufgedeckt. Um die Angemessenheit der ITS-Therapie zu erhöhen und Burn-out der Mitarbeiter zu verringern, sollte die Arbeitsumgebung gezielt verbessert werden. Dies gilt besonders für die interprofessionelle Zusammenarbeit, die z. B. durch gemeinsame Visiten und interprofessionelle Fallbesprechungen gestärkt werden kann.

Abstract

Background

End-of-life care (EOLC) in the intensive care unit (ICU) is becoming increasingly more common but ethical standards are compromised by growing economic pressure. It was previously found that perception of non-beneficial treatment (NBT) was independently associated with the core burnout dimension of emotional exhaustion. It is unknown whether factors of the work environment also play a role in the context of EOLC.

Objective

Is the working environment associated with perception of NBT or clinician burnout?

Material and methods

Physicians and nursing personnel from 11 German ICUs who took part in an international, longitudinal prospective observational study on EOLC in 2015-2016 were surveyed using validated instruments. Risk factors were obtained by multivariate multilevel analysis.

Results

The participation rate was 49.8% of personnel working in the ICU at the time of the survey. Overall, 325 nursing personnel, 91 residents and 26 consulting physicians participated. Nurses perceived NBT more frequently than physicians. Predictors for the perception of NBT were profession, collaboration in the EOLC context, excessively high workload (each p ≤ 0.001) and the numbers of weekend working days per month (p = 0.012). Protective factors against burnout included intensive care specialization (p = 0.001) and emotional support within the team (p ≤ 0.001), while emotional exhaustion through contact with relatives at the end of life and a high workload were both increased (each p ≤ 0.001).

Discussion

Using the example of EOLC, deficits in the work environment and stress factors were uncovered. Factors of the work environment are associated with perceived NBT. To reduce NBT and burnout, the quality of the work environment should be improved and intensive care specialization and emotional support within the team enhanced. Interprofessional decision-making among the ICU team and interprofessional collaboration should be improved by regular joint rounds and interprofessional case discussions. Mitigating stressful factors such as communication with relatives and high workload require allocation of respective resources.

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Correspondence to Christiane S. Hartog.

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Interessenkonflikt

C.S. Hartog war während der Studienperiode teilweise über die Mitteldeutsche Sepsiskohorte (MSC) beschäftigt. Die MSC wird gefördert durch das Integrierte Forschungs- und Behandlungszentrum Sepsis und Sepsisfolgen (CSCC) am Universitätsklinikum Jena und durch die Rudolf Presl GmbH & Co. Kg, Kreischa. Das CSCC wird durch das Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung finanziell unterstützt (BMBF 01EO1502). F. Hoffmann, A. Mikolajetz, S. Schröder, A. Michalsen, K. Dey, R. Riessen, U. Jaschinski, M. Weiss, M. Ragaller, S. Bercker, J. Briegel, C. Spies, D. Schwarzkopf geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht.

Dieser Beitrag beinhaltet keine von den Autoren durchgeführten Studien an Menschen oder Tieren. Von allen an der Unfrage Beteiligten liegt eine schriftliche Einverständniserklärung vor. Die Zustimmung der zuständigen Ethikkommission liegt vor.

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Hartog, C.S., Hoffmann, F., Mikolajetz, A. et al. Übertherapie und emotionale Erschöpfung in der „end-of-life care“. Anaesthesist 67, 850–858 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00101-018-0485-7

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