{"id":215227,"date":"2025-05-16T14:21:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T14:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=215227"},"modified":"2025-05-16T14:21:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T14:21:57","slug":"doug-is-an-emergency-room-nurse-in-a-large-underfunded-public-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/16\/doug-is-an-emergency-room-nurse-in-a-large-underfunded-public-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Doug is an emergency room nurse in a large, underfunded, public hospital."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Doug is an emergency room nurse in a large, underfunded, public hospital. Lately, he finds himself assuming that the patients he sees are just trying to get free drugs to feed an addiction. Just yesterday a little boy was brought in with a broken arm, and Doug found that he was completely indifferent to the boy’s pain. What aspect of job burnout does this exemplify?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. dimension 1 – exhaustion<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. dimension 2 – depersonalization<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C. dimension 3 – diminished personal accomplishment<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D. dimension 4 – giving up<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Correct Answer and Explanation is :<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The correct answer is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. dimension 2 – depersonalization<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Doug’s reaction to his patients\u2014assuming they are drug-seeking and feeling indifferent to a child in pain\u2014best illustrates depersonalization<\/strong>, which is one of the three core dimensions of job burnout<\/strong> as identified by psychologist Christina Maslach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burnout<\/strong> is a psychological syndrome that involves a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. The three primary dimensions of burnout are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Exhaustion (Dimension 1):<\/strong> This refers to feelings of being emotionally overextended and depleted of one\u2019s emotional and physical resources. Nurses experiencing exhaustion might feel drained and unable to face another shift, but they may still care about their patients.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Depersonalization (Dimension 2):<\/strong> This dimension is characterized by a cynical attitude, emotional detachment, and a lack of empathy toward patients. Health care workers begin to view patients not as human beings with needs, but as impersonal tasks or problems. Doug\u2019s assumption that patients are just drug-seeking, and his indifference to the pain of a child, reflect this detached, dehumanized attitude.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Diminished Personal Accomplishment (Dimension 3):<\/strong> This involves a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of achievement in one\u2019s work. Nurses may feel that they\u2019re not making a difference or that their efforts are futile.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The option \u201cDimension 4 – giving up\u201d is not<\/strong> a recognized dimension of burnout and is therefore incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Doug\u2019s behavior is troubling because depersonalization<\/strong> can severely impact patient care, safety, and overall health outcomes. It can also worsen the nurse\u2019s own mental health, leading to compassion fatigue, moral distress, and even ethical violations. Recognizing and addressing burnout is essential, not only for the well-being of healthcare workers like Doug but also for ensuring compassionate and safe care for patients. Interventions might include counseling, workload adjustments, peer support, and fostering a positive work environment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Doug is an emergency room nurse in a large, underfunded, public hospital. Lately, he finds himself assuming that the patients he sees are just trying to get free drugs to feed an addiction. Just yesterday a little boy was brought in with a broken arm, and Doug found that he was completely indifferent to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-215227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215227\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}