Nursing Staff Burnout: A Critical Review of the Risk Factors

ABSTRACT

Background: Professional burnout is usually found in the working environment and affects almost all professional groups, such as nurses, civil servants, educators and many others who may experience moderate to severe cases of burnout symptoms. Although burnout can be found in all professional groups, it is most noticeable among professionals whose work involves constant demands coupled with intense interaction with individuals or groups who have demanding physical and emotional needs. Aim: The general purpose of this review is to investigate the risks and factors that contribute to burnout in nursing staff. Within this context, the specific objectives include the following Methods: For this critical review's needs, relevant articles were found by searching PubMed using specific seven key words in 12 separate combinations (sub-searches). Thus, PubMed was chosen because this particular database is considered inclusive enough to meet the needs of this review and the search was conducted in English, from 2000 to date. Results: Perusal of the papers per se, leads to a categorization of four major groups and thirteen sub-themes. Thus, this critical review uncovers four main factors that predispose nurses to burnout, namely Working conditions;Interpersonal factors;Environmental factors and Interactions. Discussion: All nurses the clinical workplace creates a small community. Social support between workers minimizes conflicts in the workplace while increasing productivity. If interpersonal relationships between workers are absent or destroyed, by either work environment factors, negative colleagues or supervisors with poor leadership skills, not only is the peaceful cohabitation between workers lost, but also the organization itself is undermined. Conclusions: It has been recognized by many studies that a positive workplace climate for nurses can play a key role in preventing burnout. A positive working ethos includes supportive relationships between nurses, the head of unit, medical staff, and overall positive leadership style, within an optimum team work spirit in order to prevent or diminish burnout.