Abstract
ObjectivesTo investigate associations between nurse work practice environment measured at department level and individual level work-family conflict on burnout, measured as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment among Swedish RNs.MethodsA multilevel model was fit with the individual RN at the 1st, and the hospital department at the 2nd level using cross-sectional RN survey data from the Swedish part of RN4CAST, an EU 7th framework project. The data analysed here is based on a national sample of 8,620 RNs from 369 departments in 53 hospitals.ResultsGenerally, RNs reported high values of personal accomplishment and lower values of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. High work-family conflict increased the risk for emotional exhaustion, but for neither depersonalization nor personal accomplishment. On department level adequate staffing and good leadership and support for nurses reduced the risk for emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Personal accomplishment was statistically significantly related to staff adequacy.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that adequate staffing, good leadership, and support for nurses are crucial for RNs' mental health. Our findings also highlight the importance of hospital managers developing policies and practices to facilitate the successful combination of work with private life for employees.
Highlights
Burnout is a commonly studied outcome and well-recognized problem among health care staff which can lead to ill-health for the individual [1], poorer quality of care for patients [2], and occupational attrition [3,4] with related expenses
According to Maslach, it is a syndrome that can occur among individuals who work with people in some capacity [5], with three dimensions of burnout differentiated, namely emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment
About one third of the registered nurses’ (RN) experienced a low degree of work-family conflict, about 40% experienced a medium degree of work-family conflict, and slightly less than one quarter experienced high levels of work-family conflict
Summary
Burnout is a commonly studied outcome and well-recognized problem among health care staff which can lead to ill-health for the individual [1], poorer quality of care for patients [2], and occupational attrition [3,4] with related expenses. Burnout has been related to many severe outcomes for health staff and patients; e.g. Aiken et al ’s seminal research [7] pointed to the relationships between registered nurses’ (RN) burnout and patient outcomes, with higher patient-RN ratios related to both increased mortality for patients and increased risk for RN burnout and job dissatisfaction. Aiken et al ’s seminal research [7] pointed to the relationships between registered nurses’ (RN) burnout and patient outcomes, with higher patient-RN ratios related to both increased mortality for patients and increased risk for RN burnout and job dissatisfaction These relationships have been supported by later research [8,9,10,11]; a large body of literature has described the influence of modifiable dimensions of nurses’ work environment and workload on burnout rates [12,13,14]. A meta-analysis of burnout revealed that perception of job demands, resources, and organisational attitudes were significantly related to all three aspects of burnout [15]
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