Investigating the Relationship Between Gender and Employment Status and Job Burnout in the Nursing Staff of the Armed Forces of Zahedan

Abstract

Background: Occupational burnout is a response to chronic stressors in work, and among nurses it can reduce the efficiency and quality of nursing care and increase hospital costs. Objectives: This study aimed to examine the relationship between gender and employment status with occupational burnout in the nursing staff of armed forces of Zahedan. Methods: In this descriptive correlation survey, 145 nursing staff were selected based on the Morgan’s table and through random sampling from the nursing staff of the armed forces in hospitals of Nabi Akram and the Prophet of Azam in Zahedan, with 230 individuals in the community. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect demographic information. Another questionnaire for measuring job burnout was the Maslach and Jackson (1981) burnout inventory. In order to measure the reliability, 30 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents. After collecting the questionnaire and entering data, SPSS software, we calculate the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, which was 0.80. Data were analyzed using chi-square (χ2) with the significance level of 5% through SPSS software version 25. Results: Data analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between gender and burnout (P value = 0.01). In this regard, burnout was higher in women. The relationship between the type of employment and job burnout was significant (P value = 0.01), and burnout was higher in the contractual frame. Conclusions: Nurses are in the first line of health care provision. With regard to the results obtained, it is recommended that managers and authorities, especially for female and contracted nursing staff, place women in wards that are fitted with their mental capacity and refrain from placing them in wards with high levels of stress. On the other hand, by communicating with those who have a contractual employment status, they will be aware of their concerns and, by using other sources of support, could reduce the stress caused by uncertainty in the contractual situation.