Burnout in Relation to Specific Contributing Factors and Health Outcomes among Nurses: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Nurses have been found to experience higher levels of stress-related burnout compared to other health care professionals. Despite studies showing that both job satisfaction and burnout are effects of exposure to stressful working environments, leading to poor health among nurses, little is known about the causal nature and direction of these relationships. The aim of this systematic review is to identify published research that has formally investigated relationships between these variables. Six databases (including CINAHL, COCHRANE, EMBASE, MEDLINE, PROQUEST and PsyINFO) were searched for combinations of keywords, a manual search was conducted and an independent reviewer was asked to cross validate all the electronically identified articles. Of the eighty five articles that were identified from these databases, twenty one articles were excluded based on exclusion criteria; hence, a total of seventy articles were included in the study sample. The majority of identified studies exploring two and three way relationships (n = 63) were conducted in developed countries. Existing research includes predominantly cross-sectional studies (n = 68) with only a few longitudinal studies (n = 2); hence, the evidence base for causality is still very limited. Despite minimal availability of research concerning the small number of studies to investigate the relationships between work-related stress, burnout, job satisfaction and the general health of nurses, this review has identified some contradictory evidence for the role of job satisfaction. This emphasizes the need for further research towards understanding causality.

Ambiente ocupacional e o consumo de substâncias psicoativas entre enfermeiros

“…(12) An environment in which physicians and nurses communicate effectively and where the teamwork favors positive outcomes of care deliver to patients and relatives reduces the tensions and dissatisfactions deriving from the work environment and reduces mental illness among the workers. (13)(14) When the nurses lack autonomy in their work environment, they present feelings of suffering, anguish, dissatisfaction, stress and mental health problems. Thus, they tend towards the use of alcohol, sedatives and other drugs to resist those situations.…”

“…This ratifies the importance of a work environment that encourages the professionals' autonomy and stimulates them to continue on the job. (14)(15)(16)(17) In this sense, psychoactive substance consumption is used as a defense strategy, whether related to the occupational or personal environment. Thus, being in an environment with unsatisfactory characteristics, lack of autonomy, unsatisfactory organizational support and physician-nurse index are factors that can contribute to the consumption of alcohol, tobacco and sedatives.…”

Prevalencia del Síndrome de Burnout en profesionales de enfermería de la Orinoquia colombiana, 2016

“…Condiciones del ambiente hospitalario y las características de la funciones de enfermería han hecho que esta sea catalogada como una profesión de riesgo y mayor prevalencia para el desarrollo del síndrome de Burnout (5,(17)(18)(19) . En Colombia se han desarrollado investigaciones (en ciudades especificas), que se han orientado a describir la prevalencia del síndrome o sus factores asociados, se han realizado principalmente en docentes (20,21) y en profesionales de la salud (14,15,(22)(23)(24)(25) .…”

“…La diferencia entre los que laboran en el área de atención hospitalaria, frente a los que trabajan en un área diferente, se explica por las características propias del trabajo hospitalario de enfermería: una mayor carga laboral (número de pacientes y tiempo de trabajo) (19,24,(26)(27)(28) , carga emocional (exposición al dolor, la muerte) junto con la responsabilidad sobre el bienestar del paciente (5,19) y la rutina diaria (18,19) . La menor prevalencia del síndrome en enfermeros que laboran en áreas no hospitalarias, también fue encontrada en un estudio realizado en Suiza, donde asocian este hallazgo a la autonomía laboral que se presenta en esta área (29) .…”

Effect of personal and work stress on burnout, job satisfaction and general health of hospital nurses in South Africa

“…In the literature, studies have mostly focused on the effects of work stress in the nursing environment (Khamisa, Oldenburg, Peltzer, & Ilic, 2015;Khamisa, Peltzer, & Oldenburg, 2013;Kumari & De Alwis, 2015;Makola, Mashegoane, & Debusho, 2015;Sekol & Kim, 2014), with the effect of personal stress in nursing being less explored. Evidence shows that work stress contributes to higher burnout levels among nurses and is associated with lower job satisfaction (Graham, Davies, Woodend, Simpson, & Mantha, 2011).…”