Assessment of burn-out among staff nurses working in a tertiary care health centre in North India

Authors

  • Ravi C. Sharma Department of Psychiatry, IGMC Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Dinesh Dutt Sharma Department of Psychiatry,IGMC Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Neeraj Kanwar Department of Psychiatry, IGMC Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Ankit Chaudhary Department of Community Medicine, IGMC Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Pankaj Kanwar Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Govt. Medical College, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India
  • Sukriti Kaushik Department of Psychiatry, IGMC Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20184890

Keywords:

Burnout, Nursing professional, Occupational health

Abstract

Background: This descriptive, cross sectional study identified the occurrence of burnout and some associated factors among nurses working in various departments at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India which is a tertiary care health centre in the state.

Methods: A total of 257 nurses screened in the hospital out of which 81 completed the study. Eighty-one nurses answered a self-administered questionnaire (sociodemographic aspects, working conditions, and Maslach Burnout Inventory). Mean scores were compared using ANOVA test. Student T-test was applied to compare mean scores between the groups.

Results: All the participants were females (100%), with up to five years’ experience. High levels of emotional stress (45.7%) and depersonalization (24.7%) were identified, as well as low professional fulfilment (6.2%), and 8.6% presented burnout. The following factors were associated: high levels of emotional stress and always perform tasks very quickly (p=0.04) and receiving a salary incompatible to the effort employed (p=0.03); high levels of depersonalization and with up to five years’ experience (p=0.02) and often perform tasks very quickly (p=0.008). For 19.0%, at least two of the three dimensions pointed to high propensity to the syndrome.

Conclusions: Searching for personal solutions for work problems must draw our attention, since it discourages health and work performance. Professionals may feel more fulfilled and satisfied by adjusting their work expectations. However, on a long-term basis, persisting in stressful work conditions enhances emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and feelings of low fulfilment at work.

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Published

2018-11-26

How to Cite

Sharma, R. C., Sharma, D. D., Kanwar, N., Chaudhary, A., Kanwar, P., & Kaushik, S. (2018). Assessment of burn-out among staff nurses working in a tertiary care health centre in North India. International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 6(12), 3959–3963. https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20184890

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Original Research Articles