Burnout and Engagement: Personality Profiles in Nursing Professionals

Abstract

The burnout syndrome, which affects so many healthcare workers, has recently awakened wide interest due to the severe repercussions related to its appearance. Even though job factors are determinant to its development, not all individuals exposed to the same work conditions show burnout, which demonstrates the importance of individual variables such as personality. The purpose of this study was to determine personality characteristics of a sample of nursing professionals based on the Big Five model, and then, having determined the personality profiles, analyze the differences in burnout and engagement based on those profiles. The sample was made up of 1236 nurses. An ad hoc questionnaire was prepared to collect the sociodemographic data, and the Brief Burnout Questionnaire, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Big Five Inventory-10 were used. The results showed that the existence of burnout in this group of workers, is associated negatively with extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience, and positively with the neuroticism personality trait. These personality factors showed the opposite pattern with regard to engagement. Three different personality profiles were also found in nursing personnel, in which professionals who had a profile marked by strong neuroticism and low scores on the rest of the personality traits where those who were most affected by burnout.

Workaholism, engagement and family interaction: Comparative study in portuguese and spanish nurses

“…This study also revealed that in both samples, gender, shift work, type of employment contract, the perception of work as stressful and the presence of leisure activities influenced the levels of workaholism, engagement and work–family interaction. Similar results have been identified, namely associated with the demanding physical and emotional professional performance, domestic chores and parental role, with women showing an increasingly active role at work, as well as the technological advancements that ensure constant professional connectedness leads to increased stress levels (Bakhamis et al., 2019; Bandeira et al., 2019; Molino et al., 2019; Pérez‐Fuentes et al, 2019; Zurlo et al., 2020).…”

Measurement Invariance of the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) Across Seven Cross-National Representative Samples

“…Research over the past decades has shown that burnout has a host of negative consequences for individuals (e.g., Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and severe injuries), organizations (e.g., absenteeism, poor performance and job dissatisfaction) and society at large (e.g., early mortality, hospitalization and disability pensions; for a review, see: [ 2 , 3 ]). Burnout has also been connected to the quality of care provided by healthcare professionals (e.g., nursing) [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Moreover, research has firmly established that burnout and its consequences exist in various occupations and environments [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Relationship between personality traits and burnout in oncology nurses

“…[12] Later, Maslach and Jackson (1981) defined burnout as a three-dimensional syndrome that consisted of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and low personal accomplishment. [345] Workload, lack of control, low income, injustice, and inability to understand society are recognized as important sources of burnout. [6] Burnout is especially common in jobs that are directly related to people, especially in the case of healthcare professionals who provide patient care services and face more challenges including communication with patients and their relatives as well as interaction with colleagues in teams.…”