Investigating burn-out contributors and mitigators among intensive care unit nurses during COVID-19: a focus group interview study.
BMJ Open
; 12(12): e065989, 2022 12 16.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2193793
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Past literature establishes high prevalence of burn-out among intensive care unit (ICU) nurses, and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic in intensifying burn-out. However, the specific pandemic-related contributors and practical approaches to address burn-out have not been thoroughly explored. To address this gap, this work focuses on investigating the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the burn-out experiences of ICU nurses and identifying practical approaches for burn-out mitigation.DESIGN:
Semistructured focus group interviews were conducted via convenience sampling and qualitatively analysed to identify burn-out contributors and mitigators. Maslach Burnout Inventory for Medical Personnel (MBI-MP) and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) were employed to quantify the prevalence of burn-out of the participants at the time of study.SETTING:
Two ICUs designated as COVID-19 ICUs in a large metropolitan tertiary care hospital in the Greater Houston area (Texas, USA).PARTICIPANTS:
Twenty registered ICU nurses (10 from each unit).RESULTS:
Participants experienced high emotional exhaustion (MBI-MP mean score 32.35, SD 10.66), moderate depersonalisation (M 9.75, SD 7.10) and moderate personal achievement (M 32.05, SD 7.59) during the pandemic. Ten out of the 20 participants exhibited post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (PCL-5 score >33). Regarding contributors to burn-out in nurses during the pandemic, five thematic levels emerged-personal, patient related, coworker related, organisational and societal-with each factor comprising several subthemes (eg, emotional detachment from patients, constant need to justify motives to patients' family, lack of staffing and resources, and politicisation of COVID-19 and vaccination). Participants revealed several practical interventions to help overcome burn-out, ranging from mental health coverage to educating public on the severity of the pandemic and importance of vaccination.CONCLUSIONS:
By identifying the contributors to burn-out in ICU nurses at a systems level, the study findings inform the design and implementation of effective interventions to prevent or mitigate pandemic-related burn-out among nurses.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Burnout, Professional
/
COVID-19
/
Nurses
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
BMJ Open
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bmjopen-2022-065989
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS