What is the Rate of Depersonalization and Burnout Among Hospital-Based Palliative Care Nurse Practitioners? A Review of Validated Instruments

Abstract

Nurse practitioners (NPs) account for one-third of all hospital palliative care (PC) consults, and are prone to burnout and depersonalization (DP). DP threatens personalized communication fundamental to PC. This literature review examines instruments validated to measure burnout and DP. An electronic literature review of instruments previously used to measure burnout and DP was conducted in six databases. Three instruments were included in the review; the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)-Human Service Survey (HSS), the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT), and the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). All three instruments measure DP or similar constructs and are validated in English, but only the OLBI and the BAT measure burnout with a sum score of the constructs. The OLBI has been validated on a single U.S. population study and as a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) in Europe. The BAT is the newest instrument and has not been validated on any U.S. population.