Burnout in nurses working in China: A national questionnaire survey

Abstract

Aim This study aimed to assess the overall status of burnout in nurses in China on a national scale and investigate the demographic characteristics related to burnout and the relationships between demographics, job satisfaction and burnout. Methods This was a national cross‐sectional study conducted by the Chinese Nursing Association between July 2016 and July 2017. Data were collected using a structured, self‐administered questionnaire. Results A total of 51 406 registered nurses in 311 Chinese cities completed the questionnaire. Fifty per cent of the participants suffered burnout, and 33.8% of nurses had high scores on emotional exhaustion, 66.6% had high scores on depersonalization and 93.5% had low scores on personal accomplishment; 16.2% reported a high level of job satisfaction, only 0.4% was satisfied with their jobs and 70.7% intended to leave their jobs. Marital status, educational level, income and years of working experience affected job burnout. Nurses with a high level of burnout were more likely to have a high degree of job dissatisfaction and intend to leave their jobs. Conclusion We found a high prevalence of burnout among nurses in China. Nursing managers need to pay more attention to job burnout and its influencing factors. Interventions to reduce nurse burnout should be implemented.

The prevalence and stressors of job burnout among medical staff in Liaoning, China: a cross-section study

“…Respondents with high levels of EE, DP and low PA were 423 (40.1%), 384(36.4%) and 594 (56.3%), respectively. Our results were consistent with the previous studies for Chinese doctors and nurses [8,9]. For the burnout definitions and criteria are diverse [4], it is difficult to compare burnout rates directly between studies.…”

“…For the burnout definitions and criteria are diverse [4], it is difficult to compare burnout rates directly between studies. But it is clear that Chinese medical staff suffered with the high prevalence of burnout [9,[39][40][41]. Compared with a previous burnout study in Liaoning province in 2013 [15], our result of high burnout was much higher (20.5% verse 12.1%).…”

“…In this study, we noticed that the low PA (56.3%) was much higher than other survey for physicians in other countries [4]. Similarly high percent of low PA also was found in Chinese anesthesiologists (57%) [44], residents in standardized residency training (69.5%) [26] and registered nurses (93.5%) [9]. It was a common phenomenon in Chinese medical staff.…”

“…A systematic review showed the rate of burnout among doctors in China was between 66.5 to 87.8% [8]. A national survey for Chinese nurse reported 50% of the participants suffered burnout [9]. As the outcome, job burnout was linked with poor health and job withdrawal such as increased absenteeism and turnover rate [10][11][12][13].…”

Adverse Events and Risk Management in Residential Aged Care Facilities: A Cross-Sectional Study in Hunan, China

“…This can be explained as RACFs offering higher salaries for a greater likelihood of better financial resources and higher employee retention. Furthermore, it is well documented that nurses with relatively low incomes are more likely to report higher job burnout, 72 lower prestige, less professional autonomy, 73 and lower work creativity, which may lead to less empathic care delivery, and missing or rushed care. A national survey of 239,312 employees in China RACF settings also revealed that the labor (taking care of six to seven disabled or semi-disabled older adults on average every day) and payment (<3000 RMB) for nursing staff were significantly unbalanced, which leads to a continual decline in their efforts and attitudes toward nursing development and career retention.…”