Burnout in nursing professionals: Associations with early stress

Abstract

This study aims to explore the prevalence of burnout syndrome, and its association with early life stress and coping strategies in nursing professionals in a general hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. A study was conducted with a quantitative approach, using a socio-demographic questionnaire of working and health conditions. The prevalence of burnout was 7.4%, early life stress in 31.3% of the sample, and the most used coping strategy were the ones focused on the problem (60%). Burnout syndrome was associated with variables corresponding to living alone (p = 0.03), not having children (p = 0.04), and having been through a doctor's appointment (p = 0.05), and among subjects who do not use strategies focused on the problem (p = 0.01). Early life stress was associated with a high level of emotional exhaustion (p = 0.00). These results bring up important factors associated with burnout syndrome.

Burnout among nursing students: predictors and association with empathy and self-efficacy

“…Among the nursing students studied, 6.0% presented high burnout, 36.3% presented high emotional exhaustion, 37.7% presented high depersonalization and 28.2% presented reduced personal accomplishment. A similar prevalence of high burnout was observed in nursing technicians and assistants of a general hospital in a city in the state of Sao Paulo (31) , but the percentages of high emotional exhaustion (28.4%), high depersonalization (31.6%) and low personal fulfillment (22.9%) were lower.…”

Relationship between occupational burnout and demographic variables among nurses in Jahrom, Iran

“…Studies have indicated that positive experiences in the workplace enhance professional commitment and reduce occupational stress, while negative perceptions and long-term workplace stresses result in nurse burnout [8]. A previous study has reported that the prevalence of OB was significantly related to early life stress, living alone, not having children, and not using coping strategies against problems [9]. Another study reported that high levels of personal accomplishment could improve the physical and mental well-being of nurses and encourage them to provide high-quality care to patients [10].…”

The Relationship Between Occupational Stressors and Coping Strategies in Nursing Technicians

“…1 Sometimes the work causes negative feelings to the worker, and can take him/her to suffering and from that, developing resources to support and not get sick because of psychological pressures of the activity. 4 Nursing is a stressful profession, which generates harm to physical and mental health, which can converge to the professional illness, when it regularly faces: fragmentation of tasks and relationships, little flexible hierarchical structure, monotonous activities, insufficient sizing of personnel, high absenteeism and sick leave, inadequate conditions of work, overload of tasks and responsibilities, high standards, excessive continuous working hours, poor pay and job dissatisfaction, interpersonal relationship problems between individuals of the same class, exposure to loss, grief and death. 5 Such evidence confirms that 62.30% of the stress of nursing staff comes from the work itself.…”

“…Therefore, different studies seek to understand the ways of coping used by professionals against the conflicting factors so that they can understand the work and relational dynamics and forms of expression/positioning these individuals, favoring the improvement of professional quality of life. 4,10 Given the above, developing a study to investigate the stressors experienced by the technicians and nursing assistants * in a general hospital is considered important, as well as identifying the coping strategies most used by these professionals.…”