Introduction

Burnout was defined as a construct by Freudenberger in 1974, and the definition was explained, expanded, and tested by Maslach, whose work has continued into the twenty-first century. The identifying characteristics of burnout are emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a diminished sense of personal accomplishment. Although frequently experienced and observed, formal studies were rare until a sudden interest in burnout emerged in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Burnout became a common term within many contexts and research increased, but the possibility of student burnout was overlooked. There had always been contention about what should be included in social work education, so addressing the possibility of burnout starting during the social work field experience, and the possibility of preventing it, had rarely been considered. This is finally changing.