International Journal of Nursing Education

Abstract

Burnout is not a symptom of work stress; it is the end result of unmanaged work stress. It is primarily found in helping professions where individuals are required to work closely with others in an emotionally charged environment. Advances in technology and practice and increasing demands for health care delivery services and accountability have resulted in nurses engaging in further specialized training and in the provision of more complex and diverse care. This has definitely made their job profile extremely stressful and challenging.

Objective : The present study aims to explore the main determinants of burnout among nurses working in tertiary care hospitals and intends to investigate the impact on work because of stress and burnout.

Study design: A cross-sectional, survey design

Setting: Data was collected from Pradumna Bal Memorial Hospital&Capital Hospital, two tertiary health care facilities, government and private respectively in the city of Bhubaneswar.

Subjects: A convenience sample of 200 nursing staff, 100 each from the two facilities participated in the study.

Study Tools: Following approval from the hospital and university ethics committees, participants completed a self reported questionnaire containing the following scales, as well as demographic questions (age, gender, employment status, hospital ward, nursing experience). Wolfgang's (1988) Health Professions Stress Inventory was used to measure nurses' perceptions of job specific stressors. The 30 item inventory provides a measure of the amount and sources of stress experienced specifically by nursing professionals. Respondents answer how often they find each situation to be stressful in their work setting using a five point Likert scale, ranging from 0 (never/rarely) to 4 (very often).

Study period: 2 months

Results: 57% of the nurses were over 45 years of age; 86% were married and 48% of them said that they entertained with their family. When compared between married and unmarried, the latter i.e 55% said that they spent their money on themselves and 100% reported all the cooperation from their family. Medical symptoms were more among nurses working for public hospitals. Musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal problems were reported by all (irrespective of the place of work) in the 45 above age group followed by insomnia-nearly 91% in the government hospitals as compared to the private which was statistically significant. Depersonalization, personal accomplishment, professional recognition and professional uncertainty emerged as the main statistically significant job stressors.

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