Backgroundburnout syndrome is a significant problem in nursing professionals. Although, the unit where nurses work may influence burnout development. Nurses that work in primary care units may be at higher risk of burnout. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and low personal accomplishment in primary care nurses.MethodsWe performed a meta-analysis. We searched Pubmed, CINAHL, Scopus, Scielo, Proquest, CUIDEN and LILACS databases up to September 2017 to identify cross-sectional studies assessing primary care nurses’ burnout with the Maslach Burnout Inventory were included. The search was done in September 2017.ResultsAfter the search process, n = 8 studies were included in the meta-analysis, representing a total sample of n = 1110 primary care nurses. High emotional exhaustion prevalence was 28% (95% Confidence Interval = 22–34%), high depersonalization was 15% (95% Confidence Interval = 9–23%) and 31% (95% Confidence Interval = 6–66%) for low personal accomplishment.ConclusionsProblems such as emotional exhaustion and low personal accomplishment are very common among primary care nurses, while depersonalization is less prevalent. Primary care nurses are a burnout risk group.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12875-018-0748-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

High emotional exhaustion is the main affected dimension of burnout in Primary Care nursing. There is heterogeneity in depersonalisation and personal accomplishment. Burnout must be prevented in these professionals, by increasing protective factors and monitoring its appearance in those with risk factors.

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