Abstract
to analyze burnout, its predictors and association with empathy and self-efficacy among nursing students. cross-sectional analytical study with 284 students from five state universities in the state of Parana, Brazil. The instruments applied were: social and academic questionnaire, Maslach Burnout Inventory, Interpersonal Reactivity Index and Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (Short Form). Spearman's correlation and univariate and multivariate logistic analysis were used. 6.0% of the students presented high burnout, 36.3% presented high emotional exhaustion, 37.7% presented high depersonalization and 28.2% presented low personal accomplishment. The burnout predictors were: absence of physical activity; weekly workload >24 hours; low empathic concern. There were negative correlations between empathy (empathic concern and perspective taking) and depersonalization; self-efficacy and emotional exhaustion; and positive correlations between personal accomplishment and empathy and self-efficacy. Personal factors and an academic variable were burnout predictors among nursing students. The correlations suggest that self-efficacy and empathy can prevent burnout.
Highlights
METHODThe responsibilities, the workload and the physical and psychological demands inherent in nursing work have been associated with vulnerability to burnout[1,2], a psychological syndrome that occurs in response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the working environment and that results in emotional exhaustion, indifference to others and job dissatisfaction[3,4]
An American study[5] adopted as criterion for burnout the occurrence of high emotional exhaustion or high depersonalization and obtained a 55.9% prevalence of high burnout . [32] The present study found 163 nursing students with high emotional exhaustion or high depersonalization, which would correspond to 57.4% of the sample, a percentage close to that found in the North American study
The percentages of high emotional exhaustion and high depersonalization can predispose to the development of burnout
Summary
The responsibilities, the workload and the physical and psychological demands inherent in nursing work have been associated with vulnerability to burnout[1,2], a psychological syndrome that occurs in response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the working environment and that results in emotional exhaustion, indifference to others and job dissatisfaction[3,4]. In order to understand the possible associations between burnout and empathy, studies have formulated three hypotheses still to be proven: burnout is an empathy killer, empathy creates burnout, and empathy prevents burnout[16]. Apparently conflictive, these hypotheses suggest that different types of empathy could yield different outcomes regarding burnout, since empathy can be cognitive, affective or composed by both[16]. Despite of the studies on the association between burnout and empathy, and between burnout and self-efficacy, no national studies on such associations among nursing students were found. The association between burnout, empathy and self-efficacy was not found in national and international literature. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the association between burnout, empathy and self-efficacy, as well as to investigate the predictors of burnout and its dimensions among nursing students
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