Burnout, stress and styles of coping among hospital nurses.

Abstract

Purpose: The evaluation of professional burnout among hospital nurses and the analysis of correlations between burnout and a subjectively perceived stress and coping styles.

Material and methods: A study sample consisted of 227 nurses from general medical, neurological and psychiatric hospital wards. A set of 3 questionnaires was used, including Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) and Subjectively Perceived Stresss (SPS).

Results: Average and high level of burnout in the emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (D) and personal accomplishment (PA) was present at 71%, 39.8% and 77% of nurses respectively. A significantly higher level of burnout was noted in the subgroup of general medical nurses. The diferences involved the total MBI score and the results of the subscales EE and D (p < 0.01). A significant correlation has been found between the subjectively perceived stress and the level of burnout (r = 0.51, p < 0.01). Significant correlations has been found between MBI scores and CISS scores. Correlation between burnout and a task oriented coping was negative and correlation between burnout and emotion oriented coping was positive.

Conclusions: The level of stress influences the professional burnout among nurses. There is a diversity in the level of burnout depending on the specialization at work, which is not accompanied by a similar diversity in the subjectively perceived stress. The correlation between burnout and a coping style is rather weak, but statistically significant.