Burnout is a psychological syndrome emerging as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. The three key dimension of this responses are an overwhelming this three-dimensional model is that it clearly places the individual stress experience within a social context and involves the person’s conception of both self and others.

The exhaustion dimension was also described as wearing out, loss of energy, depletion, debilitation and fatigue. The cynicism dimension was originally called depersonalization (given the nature of human services occupations), but was also described as negative or inappropriate attitudes towards clients, irritability, loss of idealism and withdrawal. The inefficacy as reduced productivity or capability, low morale, and an inability to cope.

There have been various conceptual models about the development of burnout and its subsequent impact. At first, the focus was on the relationships between the three dimensions of burnout, Which was often described in sequential stages. Exhaustion was assumed to develop first, in response to high demand and overload, and then this would precipitate detachment and negative reactions to people and the job (depersonalization or cynicism), If personal accomplishment or professional inefficacy).

More recently, burnout models have been based on theories about job stress, the notion of imbalances leading to strain. Its three stages are: (a) Job stressors, (b) Individual strain, and (c) defensive coping. Subsequently, two developmental models of the demand- resources imbalances have emerged: the Jobs Demands –Resources (JD-R) model and the conservation of Resources (COR) model. The JD-R model focuses on the notion that burnout arises when individuals experiences incessant job demands and have inadequate resources available to address and to reduce those demands. The COR model follows a basic motivational theory assuming that burnout arises as a result of persistent threats to available resources. A different variation of an imbalance model of burnout is the Areas of Work life (AW) model , which frames job stressors in terms of person-job imbalances, or mismatches, but identifies six key areas in which these imbalances takes place: work load, control, reward , community , fairness and values. Mismatches in these areas affect an individual’s level of experienced burnout, which in turn determines various outcomes, such as job performance, social behaviours, and personal wellbeing.