Empathy, Burnout, and Attitudes towards Mental Illness among Spanish Mental Health Nurses

Abstract

Mental health nurses, together with psychiatrists, are the healthcare professionals who display the highest levels of empathy and the best attitudes towards patients with mental disorders. However, burnout is a common problem among these professionals. The aim of our study is to describe the association between empathy, burnout, and attitudes towards patients with mental disorders among mental health nurses in Spain. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used involving a sample of 750 specialist nurses working in mental health facilities in Spain. An intentional, non-probability, non-discriminative, exponential snowball sampling method was used. The Jefferson Scale of Empathy, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Community Attitudes towards Mental Illness Inventory were used to measure the study variables. A positive correlation was observed between empathy and all the study variables, with the exception of the personal accomplishment dimension of burnout and the social restrictiveness and authoritarianism dimensions of attitudes towards mental illness, where a negative relation was observed. Our findings suggest that empathy is associated with an increase in positive attitudes towards patients with mental disorders, decreasing associated stigma, but did not act as a protective factor against burnout in the study sample.

“Early in the morning, there’s tolerance and later in the day it disappears” – The intersection of resource scarcity, stress and stigma in mental health and substance use care in South Africa

“…If staff are better trained, they may be more capable, feel more confident in their ability to provide quality care to all patients, and view patients differently (Sibeko et al, 2018 ; Jacobs et al, 2021 ; Agyapong et al, 2023 ). However, there is also evidence that changes in stress and stigma do not correlate (Román-Sánchez et al, 2022 ), and while additional training on new clinical topics can be perceived as helpful, it can also be perceived as “task dumping” if not accompanied by adequate supports and resources for staff to implement this new knowledge (Jacobs et al, 2021 ). Greater attention to role clarification, including aspects of MH/SU interventions that are within the remit of non-specialists, can help reduce scope creep and perceptions of task dumping.…”

“…Addressing non-specialist stress is critical not only to support their well-being but also of patients, as provider stress is associated with more stigmatizing behaviors, or enacted stigma, toward patients (Kim et al, 2018 ; Eshun-Wilson et al, 2019 ; Tawfik et al, 2019 ; Román-Sánchez et al, 2022 ). Stigma is multidimensional and has many facets, such as enacted stigma (when others treat stigmatized groups with prejudice or discrimination), internalized stigma (when stigmatized individuals view themselves with lower value or worth) or anticipated stigma (expectations from stigmatized individuals that others will discriminate against them), making it complex to study (Pescosolido and Martin, 2015 ).…”

Assessment of Empathic Ability and Factors Affecting Empathetic Behavior Regarding Care of Patients with Mental Illness Among Staff Nurses Working in the Selected Government Psychiatric Hospitals, Kolkata

“…And the related 't' value are 1.44, 2.29 * and 0.31 that indicated there is significant association between level of empathic ability and depersonalization. Sanchez RD et al 6 conducted a descriptive study on empathy, burnout and attitudes towards mental illness among 750 Spanish mental health nurses in 2019. They found positive correlation between empathy and emotional exhaustion (r= 0.204, p<0.05), depersonalization (r= 0.179, P<0.05) and with the personal accomplishment dimension of burnout a negative relation was observed (r= -0.072, p<0.05).…”

Assess the Attitude Towards Mental Illness Among Nurses Working in Selected Tertiary Care Hospital

“…However, negative attitudes towards mental illness among nurses prevent people with mental illness from achieving a better quality of life (Sreeram, 2023;Ramanathan et al, 2023). Improving the attitudes toward people with mental disorders reduces stigma, which is seen as negative emotional, behavioural, or cognitive reactions toward individuals with mental disorders (Román-Sánchez et al, 2022). Healthcare providers are generally expected to be knowledgeable about mental illness and to act humanely toward patients (Knaak, 2017;Pramanik, 2018).…”