A good nurse ruins her career by covering up for her sister's careless mistake.

Burning Out is literally a drama about life and death. For two years, the Belgian director Jérôme le Maire followed the members of a surgical unit in one of the biggest hospitals in Paris. Constantly under severe stress, understaffed and subject to severe budget cuts, employees fight each other for resources. Meanwhile the management imposes ever more stringent efficiency and profitability targets. All over Europe burnout has reached epidemic proportions among employees in the public and private sectors. Will we end up killing ourselves? Or will we be able to find meaning and joy at work?

Emergency medicine intern Margaux can no longer stand it. During another very hectic and patient-filled shift, she forgets a homeless woman on a stretcher who then dies. Shocked Margaux has no choice but to continue working. But suddenly, her body starts sweating blood uncontrollably.