el ProCeso De bUrNoUT Y el viH/siDa: PriNCiPales imPliCaCioNes eN los TrabaJaDores De la salUD

Burnout has been identified as a significant problem in health care professions, particularly for those working in chronic care. Occupational burnout is conceptualised as a particular type of stress occurring principally in professional contexts where work overload demands, especially those of an interpersonal nature, lead to chronic emotional exhaus- tion, depersonalization and reduced sense of personal ac- complishment explaining most of the physical and psycho- logical problems at work. The issue of burnout in health care workers in the area of HIV disease has become increasingly important in the past decade. However, there has been little systematic research in this area. The present article is a selec- ted review of the literature, through more than 200 articles on burnout in health care workers treating HIV/AIDS pa- tients published since 1988. The main purpose is to provide a framework and a global paradigm of the burnout process in different health workers looking after patients with AIDS. Among the aspects evaluated are the process, stressors, bu- ffers and consequences of burnout. The analysis shows the presence of methodological inconsistencies that have hinde- red the development of a coherent view in this specific field, and the establishment of effective prevention and interven- tion programmes.