Prevalence and Risk Factors of Burnout Syndrome during COVID-19 Pandemic among Healthcare Providers in Thailand.

Objective: To study prevalence, risk factors, and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic related to Burnout syndrome (BOS) among Thai healthcare providers (HCPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study among HCPs, involved in caring for patients during the pandemic in two periods (1st period, May-Jun 2021, and 2nd period, Sep-Oct 2021). Data were distributed using electronic questionnaires. BOS was defined if respondents exhibited a high level of at least one domain in the Maslach Burnout Inventory criteria. The primary outcome was prevalence of BOS. Results: Altogether, 2,027 and 1,146 respondents were enrolled in the 1st and 2nd periods, respectively. Most respondents were female (73.3, 68.2%). The top three job positions were physicians (49.2, 58.9%), nurses (41.2, 30.6%), and nursing assistants (4.8, 6.5%), respectively. No difference was found in overall prevalence of Burnout syndrome during the 1st and 2nd periods (73 vs. 73.5%, p=0.80). Using multivariate analysis, significant risk factors for Burnout syndrome in both periods were (1) living with family (odds ratio (OR) 1.3 and 1.5), (2) tertiary care hospital (OR 1.92 and 2.13), (3) nurse (OR 1.38 and 2.29), (4) nursing assistant (OR 0.92 and 4.81), (5) salary ≤40,000 THB (OR 1.53 and 1.53), (6) >20 patients per shift (OR 1.55 and 1.88), (7) >6 shifts after hours monthly (OR 1.26 and 1.49), and (8) ≤1 rest day weekly (OR 1.3 and 1.4). Conclusion: We found a high prevalence of Burnout syndrome among Thai HCPs during the pandemic. Knowing those risk factors may provide a strategy to BOS during the pandemic.

The impact of a three-tiered model of nursing redeployment during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in extreme system pressures, requiring redeployment of nurses to intensive care units. We aimed to assess the impacts of a 3-tiered pandemic surge model on nurses working in intensive care units during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODOLOGY: In this cross-sectional study, 931 nurses (464 intensive care and 467 redeployed nurses) who worked within four adult units in Western Canada during pandemic surge(s) were invited via email to participate in a survey. The survey explored the impact of redeployment, rapid unit orientations, just-in-time training, and the 3-tiered model of nursing during pandemic surge. Burnout was measured utilizing the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 191 survey responses were retained (59 intensive care nurses and 132 redeployed). Survey results are reported by tier, with outcomes varying based on team leadership, intensive care unit, and redeployment nursing roles. Burnout in personal and workplace domains was present amongst all nursing tiers, while only team leadership roles experienced burnout in the patient domain. Overall, team leadership roles and permanent intensive care nurses experienced the highest rates of burnout. Redeployed nurses reported numerous aids to success including support from colleagues, prior experience, and educational supports. Skill-based orientation, ongoing education, optimized scheduling, role clarity, and mitigators of psychological impacts were identified by respondents as potential facilitators of redeployment and surge models. CONCLUSION: Nurses working within this tiered model experienced high degrees of burnout, with highest prevalence amongst team leads and intensive care nurses. Optimization of support for and interventions aimed at improving well-being are important considerations going forward. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: Targeted strategies are required to support education, role transition, and optimize competency and role clarity during nursing redeployment for overcapacity surge. Essential strategies to support redeployed nurses include individualized competency assessments pre-redeployment and prior to role transitions, pairing redeployed nurses with the same intensive care nurse consistently, and availability of a nurse educator or resource for additional just-in-time training supports. Contingency disaster strategies should also include interventions targeting staff wellness and prevention of burnout, as well as identify scenarios in which redeployment may increase risks of psychological harm. Debriefing and peer-to-peer support models may increase the efficiency of psychological support for nurses, though additional research is required. Lastly, given enaction of tiered models of nursing care is largely a novel occurrence in the intensive care unit, leadership training is required to support frontline nurses taking on supervisory roles within these team models.

Using a Culture Committee to Improve and Maintain a Positive Workplace Environment During a Pandemic.

Workplace culture is often overlooked in interventions to improve the delivery of health care efficiency. Burnout and employee morale have been longstanding issues in health care and can negatively affect both provider and patient health. To address employee wellness and promote department unity, a culture committee was established within a radiation oncology department. After the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, burnout and social isolation among health care workers have increased substantially, affecting job performance and stress levels. This report revisits the efficacy of a workplace culture committee 5 years after its establishment, while also outlining its role during the pandemic and in the transition to a peripandemic workplace. The initiation of a culture committee has been pivotal to identifying and improving workplace stressors that may enable burnout. We suggest health care environments implement initiatives that encompass tangible and actionable solutions to feedback provided by employees.

The Mediating Role of Sense of Coherence and Striving for Work-Life Balance on Intention to Leave From Nurses' Burnout.

High turnover and understaffing are significant issues plaguing the healthcare system. Some of the leading reasons of turnover include child-bearing and -rearing, stress related to working, and health concerns. With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this problem of turnover worsened due to increased risk of infection and escalating workload. This study aimed to clarify and validate the effect of burnout on intention to leave among full-time nursing professionals and the structural relationship with sense of coherence (SOC) and striving for work-life balance (S-WLB). Secondary analyses of data obtained from a previous study was carried out; a hypothesized model was tested for goodness of fit and a final model was developed. Burnout directly affected intention to leave (P < .001). It also affected intention to leave through SOC and S-WLB (P < .01); SOC lessened the effect of burnout on S-WLB, therefore reducing its impact on intention to leave. Effective strategies need to be developed to improve the SOC and WLB of nurses to alleviate the effects of burnout and thus reduce the likelihood of turnover. Improving their ability to grasp and deal with emergencies and ambiguous situations, as well as providing emotional and tangible support can be other ways to retain nursing professionals.

Evaluation of work conditions of nurses employed in a shift system in hospital wards during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Nurses work in a shift system that determines the provision of round-the-clock care of a patient in hospital conditions; however, it entails health consequences. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was the evaluation of work conditions of nurses engaged in shift work in hospital wards during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The study was conducted in 2020, and included 108 nurses working in a shift system in hospital wards. The research method was a diagnostic survey, using an author-constructed questionnaire. RESULTS: 88.9% nurses reported a negative effect of shift work on their physical health: 'musculoskeletal pain', 'elevated arterial blood pressure', and 'hormonal disorders' - 54.5% of respondents used pharmacological treatment. The causes of physical disorders were: 'microclimate', 'physical effort', 'noise', and 'forced body position'. Shift work exerted a negative effect on psychological health of the majority of respondents (75.0%): 'deconcentration', 'sleep disorders', 'feeling of occupational burnout' - treatment in 38.9% of respondents. Psychological health disorders were caused by: 'circadian rhythms disturbance by shift work', 'chronic stresses', and 'conflicts at work'. 69.7% of respondents reported that their shift work was disturbed by organizational factors, including: a 'badly planned work schedule', 'enhanced pace of work due to staff shortage', 'ambiguous division of duties, rights, responsibilities', 'shortages of equipment at the workplace'. CONCLUSION: The examined nurses experienced a negative effect of shift work on their physical and psychological health which, for some of them, was the cause of pharmacological treatment. Many organizational factors hindered the work of nurses in a shift system in hospital wards.

Impact of nurses' emotional labour on job stress and emotional exhaustion amid COVID-19: The role of instrumental support and coaching leadership as moderators.

AIM: This study examines Pakistan nurses' emotional labour and stress in health care emergencies, specifically their emotional exhaustion and availability of support of organization and management to alleviate the effects. BACKGROUND: As COVID-19 pandemic has been declared a global outbreak and many countries have enacted medical emergencies, this has increased job demands and expected desired emotional expressions from frontline workers. Such high levels of job demand contribute to various stress reactions among employees. METHODS: Authors applied a longitudinal design, using an experimental approach, to collect data from 319 nurses serving in 107 government hospitals in Pakistan. The authors surveyed nurses at two time points with the interval of 3 months by using an online questionnaire tool. At one time, they asked nurses to report on emotional labour, stress and exhaustion. In the second phase, after providing supports (during interval phase) at different levels, the authors repeated the same scales from same participants in addition to instrumental support and coaching leadership. Data were processed using SPSS-Amos for elementary analysis and SPSS-process macro software for robustness and hypotheses testing. RESULTS: The findings indicate that job stress fully mediates the relationship between surface acting and emotional exhaustion in controlled phase and partially mediates in intervention phase. Furthermore, in intervention phase, instrumental support moderates and alleviates positive effects of emotional labour on job stress, and coaching leadership moderates and lessens positive effects of job stress on emotional exhaustion. CONCLUSION: This research concludes that health care organizations can alleviate emotional exhaustion caused by emotional labour and job stress amid emergencies by providing support at different levels: organizational and managerial. However, the effectiveness of these supports depends on high to low levels. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: This study demonstrates that to handle and support emotional labour and job stress to avoid emotional exhaustion in health care emergencies, organizational supports matter. Support at organizational level can include instrumental support. At managerial level, holding a coaching leadership style can foster external facets of management while uplifting the internal support qualities of confidence and self-awareness that improve the individuals' ability to lead; work with paradox and uncertainty.

Burnout and its associated factors among healthcare workers and the general working population in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide cross-sectional internet-based study.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence and the associated factors of burnout among both healthcare workers (HCWs) and the general working population, which has not yet been unknown, using large-scale, nationwide data. DESIGN: Cross-sectional internet-based study. SETTING: Nationwide internet survey conducted between 8 and 26 February 2021 in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: Workers aged 20-64 years. We classified the workers as HCWs and the general working population. EXPOSURES: Demographic characteristics (age, sex and marital status), socioeconomic status (education, employment and income), health-related, work-related and industry-related factors (smoking, alcohol use, physical and psychiatric comorbidities, working hours, types of healthcare professionals, experience on the COVID-19 frontline and working industries). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Burnout defined as a score of ≥3 points on the Mini-Z Single-Item Burnout Scale. RESULTS: Of the included 12 650 workers, 1087 were HCWs. After inverse probability weighting on data from the 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions, burnout in HCWs and the general working population was 33.5% (95% CI 29.2% to 38.0%) and 31.0% (95% CI 29.7% to 32.4%), respectively. In the weighted multivariable modified Poisson regression models, working 60 hours or more was associated with burnout in all workers (HCWs: prevalence ratio (PR) 2.52, 95% CI 1.68 to 3.76; general population: PR 1.26, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.48). Widowed/separated compared with married was associated with burnout only among HCWs (PR 1.69, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.47), whereas presence of physical or psychiatric comorbidities was associated with burnout among the general working population (PR 1.14, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.28; and PR 1.65, 95% CI 1.45 to 1.87, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Burnout was prevalent in both HCWs and the general working population in Japan. Both common and specific risk factors were observed. Our findings highlight the need for the general workplace policy and targeted interventions for burnout prevention.

Assessing relational coordination and its impact on perceived mental health of students, teachers and staff in a clinical skills program during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The global spread of the COVID-19 virus caused unprecedented interruptions in medical education. This paper evaluates Relational Coordination (RC): communicating and relating for task integration; between the distinct stakeholders responsible for scheduling,delivering and receiving clinical teaching in the wake of the pandemic. METHODOLOGY: Using a cross-sectional design, the level of Relational Coordination was assessed between twelve groups within a Clinical Skills Program at a Medical School in the United Arab Emirates. It also measures three relevant mental health factors: namely, Job satisfaction, Work Engagement, and Burnout. RESULTS: Overall, RC scores were moderate (3.65 out of 5.00). Controlling for participants' position, RC was found to positively and significantly increase both job satisfaction (ß = 1.10, p < 0.001) and work engagement (ß = 0.78, p < 0.01)., Additionally, RC was significantly associated with lower burnout (ß = -0.56, p = 0.05). Fifty percent of participants experienced high job satisfaction, with a mean score of 5.0 out of 7.0, while 73% reported being enthusiastic about their job, with a mean score of 6.0 out of 7.0. About a third of participants (27%) reported feeling burnout. CONCLUSIONS: During times of disruption and crisis, medical education can benefit from higher levels of relational coordination. Our study shows the significant impact of relational coordination on mental health measures like job satisfaction and work engagement. To achieve the full potential and benefits of excellent levels of relational coordination in this program, we recommend six interventions focusing on improving communication, work processes, regular meetings, education innovations, capacity building, and the establishment of coaching and counseling programs for students and faculty.

Efficacy of physiotherapy management on burnout syndrome amongst IT professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive stress. Burnout weakens the energy of an individual which reduces productivity and leaves this individual helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Thus, an early diagnosis of this syndrome has to be done and ways to prevent the level of progression and complication of burnout syndrome has to be planned. OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy of self-supervised Jacobson's relaxation technique along with Bhastrika Pranayama in reducing the level of burnout among the work-from-home IT professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHOD: Thirty participants with burnout syndrome were randomly divided into two groups (15 participants in each group) using random allocation. The experimental group received Jacobson's relaxation technique along with Bhastrika Pranayama, whereas the control group received diaphragmatic breathing exercises and chest expansion exercises. Pre-test and post-test values using Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to interpret the results. RESULTS: Data collected were analyzed statistically by the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. It shows that there is a significant reduction in the level of burnout in the experimental group when compared to the control group at a p-value of 0.001. CONCLUSION: From the results, it is concluded that Jacobson's relaxation technique along with diaphragmatic breathing exercises showed significant improvement in the reduction of burnout levels.

Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nurse practitioners' professional quality of life.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 global pandemic has put health care professionals under immense pressure and hindered their ability to provide quality services. PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the professional quality of life (ProQOL) among Georgia nurse practitioners during the COVID-19 global pandemic. METHODOLOGY: The ProQOL survey was distributed to nurse practitioners in Georgia by the professional organization's listserv. Multiple analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyses were performed to assess differences between employment settings, geographic location, and other relevant demographic qualifiers and levels of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. RESULTS: Hundred nurse practitioners (NPs) (n = 100) responded to the survey. Ninety-one percent were female and ages 25-35 years. Male NPs showed higher rates of compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress. CONCLUSIONS: A ProQOL survey demonstrated increased burnout and secondary traumatic stress among frontline practitioners in Georgia due to increased workloads, feelings of inadequacy, fear of being infected by the virus, and prolonged exposure to deaths. IMPLICATIONS: Ensuring effective communication, team collaboration, emotional, adequate staffing, and psychological support can help reduce compassion fatigue among NPs.

Burnout, resilience and psychological flexibility in frontline nurses during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020) in Madrid, Spain.

BACKGROUND: In April 2020, Spain was the country with the highest number of patients infected by COVID-19 in Europe. The pressure on health care providers has had a direct impact on nurses and their mental health. AIM: The aim of this study is to demonstrate the causal relationship between resilience, acceptance, experiential avoidance, psychological inflexibility and burnout syndrome, all of which are measured with validated questionnaires. METHODS: This was designed as a transversal correlational study with nurses who worked during the acute phase of the pandemic in public hospitals in the Community of Madrid with patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in COVID-19 medical hospitalization units, emergency services and intensive care units. Google Forms was used to obtain an informed consent sheet, socio-demographic variables and the following questionnaires: 10 CD-Risk, Connor-Davidson Risk Resilience Scale, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. RESULTS: The final sample included 375 nurses with a high number of consecutive days of direct exposure to an infected patient and a very high number of consecutive days without rest; almost 18% suffered from COVID-19. The nurses presented medium levels of resilience, medium levels of experiential avoidance and medium levels as measured for emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and depersonalization. We also found a predictive correlation between all the dimensions of the burnout questionnaire in relation to the data obtained from the resilience questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: There is a direct and predictive relationship between the resilience that nurses had during the acute phase of the pandemic and their capacity for acceptance, experiential avoidance, psychological inflexibility and burnout syndrome. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: The scores show the necessity to implement preventive measures to avoid fatal psychological consequences for nurses.

The moderating effect of burnout on professionalism, values and competence of nurses in Saudi Arabia amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: A structural equation modelling approach.

AIM: To examine the moderating effect of burnout on the relationship between nurses' competence, professional competence and professional values. BACKGROUND: There is a preponderance of burnout studies of nurses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about burnout's moderating influence on nurses' professionalism, competence and values during the ongoing pandemic. METHODS: This study used a correlational, cross-sectional design and convenience sampling to recruit 809 Saudi nurses employed in four government hospitals. Four self-report instruments were used to collect data from August 2021 to March 2022. Spearman Rho, structural equation modelling and multi-group moderation analysis were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Most of the participants had high burnout. There was a moderate to high correlation between the dimensions of professional competence, nurse professional values, burnout and nurse competence. Both professional competence and nurse professional values significantly affected nurse competence. Nurse professional values also had a direct effect on professional competence. Professional competence and nurse professional values on nurse competence may vary among those with low, moderate and high levels of burnout, suggesting the moderating effect of burnout. CONCLUSIONS: The positive impacts of nurse professional values and professional competence on nursing competence were validated in this study, as was the evidence of burnout's moderating effect on the studied connections. To avoid burnout, it is necessary to increase organizational knowledge and support for nurses, their working conditions and the environment through strategies that promote well-being and empowerment. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse managers can implement policies to help nurses minimize burnout and improve their professional values and competence. Management policies may be considered include increased staffing, opportunities to improve technical abilities through education and vocational training programs, and increased diversity of job assignments.

Impact of nurses' roles and burden on burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: Multicentre cross-sectional survey.

AIM: To identify groups of nurses engaging in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) care who are most in need of organizational support. BACKGROUND: Overwhelming stress and susceptibility to burnout have been reported in nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Nurses working at five hospitals that accepted COVID-19 patients answered the questionnaire. The Tokyo Metropolitan Distress Scale for Pandemic, Self-Diagnosis Check List for Assessment of Workers' Accumulated Fatigue and Japanese Burnout Scale were evaluated. Multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between engaging in COVID-19 care and psychosocial/physical burden. RESULTS: In total, 895 questionnaires were analysed. With experience in caring for COVID-19 patients as the independent variable, nurses caring for suspected cases had significantly higher standardized Tokyo Metropolitan Distress Scale for Pandemic scores for 'concerns for infection' (standardized partial regression coefficient ß = .921, P = .004), Assessment of Workers' Accumulated Fatigue (ß = .445, P = .022) and Japanese Burnout Scale 'emotional exhaustion' (ß = .136, P = .021) than those caring for confirmed cases. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses caring for suspected COVID-19 patients have the highest psychological/physical burden and propensity for burnout. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Extensive support systems are required for nurses caring for confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases.

Burnout levels and care behaviours in intensive care nurses: A cross-sectional, multicentre study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between burnout levels and caring behaviours in intensive care nurses in Turkey, and the affecting factors. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY/DESIGN: The research was conducted as a descriptive, cross-sectional and multi-centred study. SETTING: In this study, an online questionnaire was applied in April and May 2021, using Google Form. A total of 460 intensive vare nurses responded to the questionnaire. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Burnout was assessed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and care behaviours with the Caring Behaviours Inventory-24. RESULTS: The nurses reported a high level of emotional exhaustion (73.9%) and depersonalization (52.2%), and a medium level of personal accomplishment (40%). The nurses' levels of perception of care quality were high (5.4 ± 0.6). It was found that their highest score on the subdimensions was on knowledge and skills (5.6 ± 0.5), and the lowest was on connectedness (5.2 ± 0.7). There was a very weak, respectively weak correlation, between nurses' emotional exhaustion (r = -0.1), respectively depersonalization (r = -0.2), and poor care behaviours. There was a strong correlation between low personal accomplishment scores and poor care behaviours (r = 0.8). It was found that the mean scores of the nurses' exhaustion and care behaviours varied according to many descriptive characteristics, such as education, age, professional experience, the unit where they worked, communication difficulties, living conditions and whether they had chosen nursing willingly. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that the level of personal accomplishment, is the only subscale reflecting risk of burnout, that strongly correlates with care behaviour.

A post-lockdown study of burnout risk amongst New Zealand essential workers.

BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE: Job burnout is an essential topic for researchers and a pressing issue for employers and employees. However, the most popular tool has become widely critiqued, and a new measure of burnout - the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) - is used here. The BAT is helpful because it provides a cut-off threshold score representing high burnout risk. This study provides one of the first BAT studies post Covid-19 pandemic and focuses on comparing high burnout risk rates between essential and non-essential workers after the first lockdown in New Zealand (May 2020). METHODS AND RESULTS: Using representative data from 955 employees across a wide range of occupations, sectors, and industries, we calculate an overall burnout risk of 11.1%, with essential workers higher (14%) than non-essential workers (9%). The odds ratios of burnout risk and having high levels of mental health complaints were 10-20 times higher for burnout risk workers. For essential workers, they were significantly higher for high job depression risk (35 times). Building on these results, to develop a deeper understanding of the factors contributing to burnout risk, we report on a qualitative analysis of comments (n = 213) provided by essential workers on their lockdown work experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Findings provide evidence that while a range of (1) health-related concerns (i.e., increased risk of getting and spreading covid) and (2) employee- and employer-specific pressures related to challenging lockdown work practices contribute to essential worker burnout risk, an unwavering sense of pride and purpose in the value of their essential work serves to reduce this risk. We discuss the implications, highlighting the unique issues facing essential workers.

Vicarious trauma in nursing professionals: A concept analysis.

AIM: To explore the concept of vicarious trauma (VT) and clarify its fundamental meaning and distinctiveness as a psychological phenomenon experienced by nurses. BACKGROUND: The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has incited significant psychological distress on nursing professionals worldwide. There is growing knowledge of the negative outcomes of this distress including the manifestation of nursing burnout syndrome, compassion fatigue, and vicarious traumatization (VT). These concepts have often been used interchangeably throughout nursing discourse creating confusion surrounding their uses and unique attributes. DESIGN: Walker and Avant's method of concept analysis. RESULTS: VT is a psychological phenomenon that causes a permanent cognitive shift in the inner experience and world views of nurses after prolonged empathetic engagement with a patient's trauma. VT manifests as physical and emotional symptoms of distress, which can disrupt a nurses ability to provide competent care. Contradictions within the literature exist when defining VT, burnout syndrome, and compassion fatigue, creating difficulty identifying attributes and consequences unique to VT. CONCLUSION: More empiric rigor is needed to adequately operationalize VT. Given the traumatic nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, immediate policy and education attention should be directed towards understanding the relationship between nurses working during the COVID-19 pandemic and the prevalence of VT.

Burnout and intent to leave during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study of New Jersey hospital nurses.

AIM: The aim of this work is to examine staffing, personal protective equipment (PPE) adequacy and physical exhaustion that contributed to burnout and intent to leave among hospital nurses during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. BACKGROUND: Burnout is associated with adverse nurse and patient outcomes. Identifying the magnitude of burnout that occurred during the pandemic can prepare managers for the long-term mental health effects on nurses. METHODS: A cross-sectional, electronic survey was administered to examine perceptions of burnout and intent to leave among all New Jersey hospital nurses from October 6 to October 26, 2020. RESULTS: A total of 3030 nurses responded with 64.3% reporting burnout and 36.5% reporting intent to leave the hospital within a year. There was a significant association between high levels of burnout and intent to leave (χ2  = 329.4; p = .001). There was no association between staffing and burnout; however, reporting inadequate PPE (OR = 1.77 [95% CI: 1.34-2.34]) and physical exhaustion (OR = 3.89 [95% CI: 3.19-4.76]) remained predictors of burnout among nurses. CONCLUSION: Inadequate PPE and physical exhaustion coupled with short staffing contributed to burnout and intent to leave. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Managers should continue to utilize evidence-based mental health interventions and advocate within their nursing professional organizations for relief funds to reduce burnout.