The Study Of Burnout And Work-Related Stress And Coping Strategies Of Head Nurses In General Hospitals In Changsha City

Objective: This study aims to investigate the related work stressors, the level of work stress and burnout of head nurses, and to understand the impact of work stressors and coping strategies on burnout.Methods: One hundred and eighty three head nurses from five general hospitals in Changsha were included in this study with random cluster sampling method. One hundred and eighty nine clinical nurses from the corresponding departments in the same hospital were selected as control. The Maslach Burnout Inventory, Nursing Job Stressor Inventory and Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire was applied to evaluate the burnout, work stress and coping strategies of head nurses and nurses. The data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) 11.5.The statistical methods included descriptive statistics, t-test, chi square test, Pearson analysis and polynary stepwise regression analysis.Results:1. The work stress of head nurses was in the middle level. The main work stress of head nurses came from workload and time distribution. The most important work stressor was excess none-nursing work.2. The emotion exhaustion and depersonalization of head nurses were in the middle level. Decreased personal accomplishment of head nurses was in the high level.3. The study showed that the work stress was positively related to emotion exhaustion and depersonalization but was not related to personal accomplishment.4. Coping strategies can influence the burnout of head nurses. Active coping is helpful to the decrease of decreased personal achievement of head nurses. Passive coping may fortify the emergence of emotion exhaustion and depersonalization.5. The most important factors which influenced emotion exhaustion, depersonalization and decreased personal accomplishment of head nurses were stress of workload and time distribution, nursing specialty and work and active coping respectively. The level of burnout of head nurses was al so influenced by general factors including management with sufficient time, the role of management, willingness of work, influence of management work on family life, attitude of family members and income.Conclusion: The level of burnout of head nurses was relatively high. It was influenced by work stress, coping strategy and general factors. The most important factors which influenced emotion exhaustion, depersonalization and decreased personal accomplishment of head nurses were stress of workload and time distribution, nursing specialty and work and active coping respectively. It is suggested to pay more attention to the cause of stress, reduce the non-nursing work and provide more chances of further study for head nurses. Intensive education of management knowledge, psychological knowledge and professional knowledge should be carried out to enhance the active coping capabilities. The study provided basis for the decrease of burnout of head nurses.