The Study On Burnout Intervention Of Nurses In The Framework Of Action Research

Job burnout the negative responses to long-term work pressure. Nursing is a profession that is high-risk to burnout. Burnout is harm to individual's wellbeing, organization's performance and the stability of the employee, so how to manage burnout effectively become a focus in the field of profession wellbeing. Among researches about burnout intervention, the interventions that combine individual factor with organization was considered to be an effective way, While burnout is organizational-specific , many of the stressors that appear in one organization may not either appear in another organization or have the same impact. That is why there are no consistent interventions on how to develop interventions in specific organization. Action research is such a framework that can help the organization to develop interventions that is suitable for itself. It is also a framework that combines theories and practice. Action research is an iterative process involving researchers and practitioners acting together on a particular cycle of activities, including problem diagnosis, action intervention, and reflective learning. It is considered to be a way that combines theories with practice.The article based on Susman's five step model of action research and pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design was used with quantitative and qualitative assessment. The article is consisted of two parts, that is two circles of action research. The aim of this article is to seek out interventions to burnout that is organizational-specific and evaluate the interventions in the framework of action research.The main results of the article are:1) Diagnosis stage(Researchâ… ). Established a benchmark for two groups before intervention, and analysed the influence of stressors to job burnout through quantitative evaluation. The results of multi regression analysis indicated that the stressors that influence job burnout wass of some difference in different organization. And it support the idea that job burnout is organizational specific. Combining with the results of interview and literature review, we found that the situation was consistent with JD-R model, and decided to develop interventions base on the model.2) Action plan and action implement(Researchâ… ). Based on JD-R model, we developed 8 strategies for reducing job demand and creating supportive atmosphere, and implement these strategies from January 2008 to December 2008.3) Evaluation stage(Researchâ… ). The results of quantitative evaluation after intervention indicated that, for intervention group, workload dimension(P<.01), professional knowledge dimension(P<.05) and managerial atmosphere dimension(P<.01)of stressors and Emotional exhaustion dimension(P<.01) of burnout were significantly reduced. While there were no significant change in all dimensions for control group. And the participant reported that there were many change in the hospital, they also pointed out many problems of our inventions.4) Improvement(Researchâ… ) / diagnosis stage(Researchâ…¡). Based on the results of quantitative and qualitative evaluation, we reviewed literature and found that positive coping resource of individual was a variable that could not be ignored apart from stressor. While psychological capital was a better concept that stands for positive coping resource of individual. So we proposed that we should add the intervention and evaluation of psychological capital in next circle except improving stressors.5) Action plan and action implement(Researchâ…¡). In the second circle of action research, we added 4 positive-orientated strategies to improve individuals'psychological capital, and implement these strategies from January 2009 to December 2009.6) Evaluation stage(Researchâ…¡). Compared with results in the evaluation stage of 1st circle, depersonalization(P<.01) and personal accomplishment(P<.01) of intervention group were significantly changed. While compared with the benchmark, three dimensions of job burnout were all significantly changed for intervention group. And the control group got no significant change in all dimensions of job burnout. Besides, the results of mediating test confirmed the idea that psychological capital play a mediating role in the stressor-burnout relationship. 7) Improvement stage(Researchâ…¡). Based on the results of evaluation stage in the 2nd circle of action research and the deeply review of literature, we ascertained the strategies that combine individual with organizational factor is effective, and proposed a new strategy that aims at creating a human-orientated environment and promoting nursing to be professional. The main conclusion of the article are:1) Action research can provide improved program for burnout intervention in specific organization.2) The strategies developed in the framework of action research is effective for reducing job burnout.3) Improving psychological capital is an effective way for burnout intervention apart from improving stressors.