Fighting burnout in the operating room: KEEPCARING’s mission to support healthcare workers

Operating rooms are the lifeline of hospitals, yet increasing pressure and stress are pushing surgical staff—especially nurses—to the edge of burnout. With 60% experiencing severe stress and nearly half considering leaving the profession, the crisis is intensifying.

Professor Marlies Schijven of Amsterdam UMC, leading the European-funded KEEPCARING project, is determined to address this issue. In a recent interview with Zorgvisie, she highlighted one of the main project’s pillar: developing a personalised measurement tool to identify the most effective stress-relief methods for individual caregivers. Once completed, this tool will be freely accessible to healthcare professionals.

“There has been a lot of research on stress, but not enough on how to effectively tackle it in healthcare,” Schijven explains. With KEEPCARING, the aim is to move beyond awareness and provide concrete solutions to support well-being and resilience in the healthcare workforce.

More information here (KEEPCARING Burnout – Dutch).