HIV disease plague, demoralization and“Burnout”: Resident experience of the medical profession in Nairobi
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Date
2002-02Author
Giuseppe, Raviola
M’imunya, Machoki
Mwaikambo, Esther
Delvecchio, Mary Jo
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
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This paper describes the experiencesof physicians-in-training at a public hospitalin Nairobi, Kenya, where medical professionalspractice in an environment characterized byboth significant lack of resources andpatients with HIV/AIDS in historicallyunprecedented numbers. The data reported hereare part of a larger study examining ethicaldilemmas in medical education and practiceamong physicians in East Africa. Aquestionnaire and semi-structured interviewwere completed by fifty residents in fourmedical specialties, examining social andemotional supports, personal and professionalsources of stress, emotional numbing anddisengagement from patients and peers, andsymptoms of post-traumatic stress anddepression. The factors affecting residentwell-being are found in this study to be morecomplex than previous interviews suggested. This study highlights the fact that as a resultof working in an environment characterized by poor communication among hospital staff aswell as a lack of resources and high numbersof patients with HIV/AIDS, residents'perceptions of themselves – their technicalproficiency, their ability to care and feel forothers and themselves, and for some theirentire sense of self – are significantlyaffected. Also affected are the patients theywork to treat
URI
http://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/mmachoki/publications/giuseppe-raviola-mhttp://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/50971
Citation
Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry February 2002, Volume 26, Issue 1, pp 55-86Publisher
University of Nairobi, Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases
Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10387]