El síndrome de desgaste profesional tiene características comunes: agotamiento emocional, despersonalización y falta de realización personal en el trabajo. Es muy común entre las personas que laboran prestando servicios a otras personas,[1] pero también puede verse en otras profesiones, hasta tal punto que su distribución es casi universal en el mundo de hoy, apareciendo en todos los países, puestos de trabajo y en todos los contextos sociales, políticos y culturales

Burnout has common characteristics no matter where it is found: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal fulfillment on the job. It is most common among people who work in service professions,[1] but also in others, to the point that it is nearly universal in today’s world—appearing in all countries, workplaces, and social, political and cultural contexts.

Evidence suggests nursing is one of the professions most prone to burnout. This is due to a) the relations developed socially and at work; b) stress factors related to the nature of the job (type of patients treated and type of interactions), and c) factors outside work (family and household responsibilities), the latter mainly associated with the women who make up 86.3% of the profession.