Stress and Burnout Check-up Tools for Frontline Workers [2.10.2f 21]
National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA)
The following is an excerpt from Stress and Burnout: A Prevention Handbook for the Alcohol and Other Drugs Workforce, by Natalie Skinner and Anne Roach from National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA), Flinders University: Adelaide, Australia. The full Stress and Burnout handbook can be found Here or through a search request Here.
How do you know if you, or a colleague, or someone who reports to you is suffering from chronic stress or burnout? Early warning signs are listed below.
Do you experience the following signs and symptoms of stress burnout on a regular basis?
- Exhausted, tired, and physically run down;
- Feel annoyed or irritated towards coworkers;
- Cynical and negative toward work;
- Careless about doing a good job;
- A sense of being besieged;
- Losing your temper;
- Frequent headaches and/or gastrointestinal disturbances;
- Weight loss or gain;
- Difficulty sleeping;
- Difficulty thinking logically and making decisions;
- Unable to relax and concentrate (at home and/or work); and/or
- Feeling weepy or tearful.
If you recognize 2 or 3 (or more) of these symptoms, then you (or your colleague) may be at risk of chronic stress and potentially, burnout.
Additional Resources:
Take the quiz: “
Are you Burned Out on Your Job?” Click Here.
The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) is a measureof three specific aspects of the burnout syndrome—emotionalexhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment. Further information can be found
Click Here.
Information on the stress categories (LCUs) and rankings can be found
Here.
Self Help Tool Finder helps to find resources offered by the Mind Tool Stress site. Tools and articles include Stress & Perception - Thinking Stress Away; Building Defenses Against Stress; Managing Environmental Stress; Coping With Work Overload; Surviving the Stress of Problem Jobs; Managing Co-Worker and Team Stress; Working With Problem People; and Managing Performance Stress, among others. Main link to tool finder,
Click Here.
Burnout Self Test: An informal interactive tool to assess burnout. Found
Here.
Schedule of Recent Experiences (SRE) is a tool to understand the impact of 42 probable stressors experienced in normal life; it allocates an appropriate “score” to each. Click Here.
Stress Diary Tool: is a template to help analyze day-to-day stress through documentation. Found
Here.
A Stress SWOT Tool is a variant of the SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) focused on helping to document and understand unique strengths and weaknesses in managing stress. Found
Here.
Stress at Work: How do Social Workers Cope? National Association of Social Workers Membership Workforce Study. Found
Here.
Work Life blog sponsored by World at Work. This blog is intended to provide a deeper understanding of how work, family and community intersect and to clarify the meaning of work-life and to provide commentary and news on the topic of work-life effectiveness as a business strategy. Found
Here.
The Definition and Core Practices of Wellness, This paper published by the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) discusses the core practices of wellness and considerations for the future tools and interventions for individuals and employers. Found
Here.
Tehrani, N. (2002). Managing organizational stress - A CIPD guide to improving and maintaining employee health and wellbeing. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Leka, S., Griffiths, A., & Cox, T. (2003). Work organization and stress: Systematic problem approaches for employers, manager and trade union representatives. Geneva: World Health Organization.