The Study Of Burnout Of ICU Nurses Of Provincial Third-level Comprehensive Hospitals In Changsha

Objective:To investigate the "job burnout" among ICU nurses in provincial grade-3class-A general hospital of Hunan province and the influencing factors of job burnout, then to evaluate the relationship between job burnout and self-efficacy, as well as the ability of empathy.Methods:A total number of215ICU nurses from four provincial grade-3class-A hospitals were investigated via questionnaires in mid-May2011. The following measures were used in the investigation: self-designed demographic questionnaire; Markov interpersonal burnout questionnaires (MBI-HSS); general self-efficacy scale (GSES); Dr. Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE-HP). Questionnaires were delivered and explained face to face by trained investigators to the nurses. Data was analyzed via SPSS15.0statistical pack. The following statistical methods were used:descriptive analysis, t-test, ANOVA, rank sum test, multiple regression analysis, and correlation analysis.Results:l.Job burnout existed among ICU nurses from the four provincial grade-3class-A general hospitals. In this study, sense of emotional exhaustion of nurses was similar to that of foreign norm and Hangzhou norm. However, the sense of personal accomplishment of nurses in this study was higher than that in Hangzhou nonn but lower than that in foreign norm(P<0.01).2. Socio-demographic factors played a role in job burnout, with gender, self-assessment of family communication quality as well as marital status were related to the level of job burnout of ICU nurses. Female nurses had a higher degree of emotional exhaustion than male nurses. ICU nurses with high quality of family communication had both lower degree of emotional exhaustion and depersonification than those with low quality of family communication. Unmarried nurses had a higher degree of job burnout than those married, marital status was related to both degree of emotional exhaustion and depersonification.3. ICU care factors also had an impact on job burnout, with frequency of night shift, amount of administrative duties, as well as income status were related to the level of job burnout. In comparison with nurses with more daytime shifts, nurses with more evening shifts had more severe emotional exhaustion, lower sense of personal accomplishment as well as higher degree of depersonification. Head nurses had a lower degree of emotional exhaustion, a lower degree of depersonification as well as a better sense of personal accomplishment than ordinary nurses. Salary is related to the degree of depersonification and the sense of personal accomplishment, but not to the degree of emotional exhaustion, nurses with monthly salaries between RMB2000-3000have the lowest sense of personal accomplishment. None of academic degree, time of working as a nurse, type of employment or time of working in the ICU was correlated with job burnout.4.Self-efficacy was positively related to the degree of emotional exhaustion and depersonification, but negatively related to the sense of personal accomplishment.5. All four of total empathy score, empathy thinking, emotional care and perspective-taking were negatively related to the degree of emotional exhaustion and depersonification, but positively related to the sense personal accomplishment.6. Factors correlated with the emotional exhaustion of ICU nurses were: self-assessment of quality of family communication, frequency of evening shift, empathy thinking, gender and current administrative level, successively. Factors correlated with depersonification nurses were: empathy thinking, amount of evening shifts, self-assessment of family communication quality, empathy perspective-taking, successively. Factors correlated with sense of personal accomplishment of ICU nurses were: empathy perspective-taking, self-efficacy, empathy thinking, frequency of evening shift, successively.Conclusion:Job burnout exists among ICU nurses, the emotional exhaustion is the most commonly seen dimension, followed by the dimension of depersonification and the dimension of personal accomplishment. The frequency of night shift has a particularly significant impact on all the three dimensions of job burnout, other factors such as self-assessment of family communication quality, gender, administrative level, marital status, income level, self-efficacy, empathy ability also play a role in job burnout.