Ethical values in the medical practice and their role in the burnout of medical residents

Abstract

The relationship between moral distress understood as a conflict of values ​​in clinical practice and burnout defined as emotional exhaustion in doctors in specialized training was examined. Objective. The relationship between moral distress and burnout in medical residents was explored. Material and methods. A battery of questionnaires comprising sociodemographic and training information with the Moral Distress for Healthcare Professional Spanish version and subscale of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory related with clients was distributed online to medical residents of a Peruvian public university. Results. Participated in the study 220 medical residents, under 35 years old (60%), in similar proportion male and female, married (44%), with children (33%), 2/3 of participants training in nonsurgical specialties, in pediatric (11.4%). Moral distress was higher in participant who do not have children, training in 3er-4th grade; and higher burnout in participant who is under 35 years old and do not have children. Scarce resources, equipment and beds, that compromise the proper attention of patients was the first situation associated to moral distress. Conclusions. The mean of moral distress (116.61) was higher and the mean of burnout was low in our study than those reported in the revised literature. The correlation between moral distress and burnout was low (.406).