Burnout in community mental health nurses: findings from the all‐Wales stress study

Abstract

Stress and its outcomes are significant problems for mental health workers. Questionnaires were sent to 614 community mental health nurses (CMHNs) in Wales. Three hundred and one responded (49%). Of these, 283 completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Maslach et al. 1996). Half of those who responded indicated that they were emotionally overextended and exhausted by their work. One quarter of respondents were found to possess negative attitudes towards their clients, and approximately one in seven experienced little or no sense of satisfaction with their work. Working in an urban environment and lacking a supportive line manager were indicators for higher emotional exhaustion. CMHNs were significantly more likely to have negative attitudes towards their clients if they: were male; worked with an elderly care caseload; lacked job security; and had an unsupportive line manager. However, CMHNs who had worked longer within the field of community mental health were more likely to have positive attitudes towards their clients. Those CMHNs who had not completed a specialist postqualifying education course and those who did not hold a supervisory or management position were found to have a lowered sense of personal satisfaction in their work. Those CMHNs who reported that they drank alcohol were more satisfied with their sense of personal accomplishments achieved in their work.

Assessment of Patient, Family and Staff Satisfaction in a Mental Health Service

“…These results corroborate Brazilian studies (De Marco et al, 2008;Ishara et al, 2014;Rebouças et al, 2007) and contradict those of international studies reporting high levels of dissatisfaction (Evans et al, 2006;Hannigan et al, 2000). The highest mean score concerned the relationship established with coworkers, while the mean scores concerning the service's infrastructure and working conditions were the lowest.…”

“…Various studies have assessed mental health services using satisfaction measures and most focused on patient satisfaction (Blenkiron & Hammill, 2003;Gani et al, 2011;Heckert, Teixeira, & Trindade, 2006;Holikatti et al, 2012;Kantorski et al, 2009;Silva, Bandeira, Scalon, & Quáglia, 2012), followed by that of healthcare providers (De Marco, Cítero, Moraes, & Nogueira-Martins, 2008;Evans et al, 2006;Hannigan, Edwards, Coyle, Fothergill, & Burnard, 2000;Ishara et al, 2014;Pelisoli, Moreira, & Kristensen, 2007;Rebouças et al, 2007). The satisfaction of families was the least studied (Bandeira et al, 2011;Perreault et al, 2011;Santos & Cardoso, 2014;Stengard, Honkonen, Koivisto, & Salokangas, 2000).…”

Associations between Age, Years in Post, Years in the Profession and Personal Experience of Mental Health Problems in UK Mental Health Nurses

“…The most common means of measuring prevalence of mental health problems in mental health nurses has been the use of versions of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) (Goldberg and Williams, 1988) (Johnson et al, 2011;Edwards et al, 2000;Fagin et al, 1996). Wall et al (1997), using the GHQ-12 on 11637 NHS staff, found psychiatric morbidity of 26.8% 3Age, experience and years overall, with 30% for male and 29% for female nurses.…”

“…Wall et al (1997), using the GHQ-12 on 11637 NHS staff, found psychiatric morbidity of 26.8% 3Age, experience and years overall, with 30% for male and 29% for female nurses. Caseness in the UK has been reported at 42% for early career mental health nurses (Kipping, 2000), 41% for CPNs (Fagin et al, 1995;1996), 39% for CMHT staff (Johnson et al, 2011), 38% for CMHT staff (Walsh et al, 2002); 35% (Edwards et al, 2000), 31% and 27.9% for WBPNs (Fagin et al, 1995;1996), 30% for CMHT staff (Wykes, Stevens & Everitt, 1997), 29% for mental health trust staff (Johnson et al, 2011). More recently, Mark and Smith (2012) surveyed nurses accessed at random via the Royal College of Nursing (hence a similar target group to the one in the present study, albeit not mental health nurses), using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) (Zigmond and Snaith, 1983), and found 27.3% of nurses to meet the 'clinical cut-off for anxiety and depression.'…”

Assessment of exhaustion and related risk factors in employees in the manufacturing industry - a cross-sectional study

“…More data are available on burnout (Maslach et al 2001), particularly for healthcare personnel Leiter and Harvie 1996). During the past two decades adverse work characteristics that increase the risk of burnout in healthcare professionals have been identified (Payne 2001;Hannigan et al 2000;Demerouti et al 2000). Burnout may ultimately lead to absenteeism, reduced job performance and an increased risk of psychosomatic or psychiatric disorders.…”