BURNOUT IN SURGEONS: ASSOCIATED FACTORS AND IMPACTS ON PATIENT SAFETY

Abstract

Introduction: burnout is an occupational syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress, characterized by exhaustion, mental distancing or cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy. Among surgeons, high technical responsibility, critical intraoperative decisions, on-call duties, sleep deprivation, productivity pressure, and exposure to complications may favor occupational distress and affect patient safety. Objective: to analyze factors associated with burnout in surgeons and its impacts on patient safety. Methodology: integrative, qualitative, and descriptive review, with structured searches in PubMed, BVS, and SciELO, complemented by institutional documents and systematic reviews on burnout, surgery, medical error, and patient safety. Results: the literature indicates high and heterogeneous burnout prevalence among surgeons and surgical trainees, associated with workload, work-life imbalance, reduced autonomy, interpersonal conflicts, unfavorable organizational climate, gender, career stage, and exposure to adverse events. Burnout is related to increased medical error reporting, poorer safety perceptions, reduced professionalism, lower patient satisfaction, and potential deterioration of care quality. Conclusion: burnout in surgeons should be addressed as an organizational and patient safety issue, requiring system-level interventions, supportive culture, workload management, effective leadership, and sustainable prevention strategies.