Increased job burnout and reduced job satisfaction for nurses compared to other healthcare workers after the COVID-19 pandemic (preprint)

ABSTRACT

Background Nurses experience high levels of job burnout and low levels of job satisfaction, while COVID-19 pandemic has deteriorated working conditions.Aim To compare levels of job burnout and job satisfaction among nurses and other healthcare workers after the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, we investigated the influence of demographic and job characteristics on job burnout and satisfaction.Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of 1760 healthcare workers. We collected data during June 2023. Our healthcare workers came from different clinical settings including hospitals, health centers, etc. We used the single item burnout measure to measure levels of burnout among our healthcare workers. Moreover, we used the “Job Satisfaction Survey” to measure levels of satisfaction in our sample.Results Nurses experienced moderate and high levels of burnout more often than other healthcare workers. In particular, 91.1% of nurses experienced high levels of burnout, while the respective percentage for the other healthcare workers was 79.9%. Nurses’ satisfaction was lower than other healthcare workers. In particular, 61.0% of nurses experienced low levels of satisfaction, while the respective percentage for the other healthcare workers was 38.8%. Multivariable analysis identified that nurses, healthcare workers with a MSc/PhD diploma, shift workers, and those who considered their workplace as understaffed had higher burnout score and lower satisfaction score. Moreover, we found that clinical experience was associated with increased burnout and decreased satisfaction.Conclusions Our results showed that nursing profession was an independent factor of job burnout and job satisfaction. Several other demographic and job characteristics affected burnout and satisfaction. Policy makers, organizations and managers should adopt appropriate interventions to improve work conditions.