Resilience, Burnout and Wellbeing of Nurses during the Third Wave of COVID-19 in Cyprus

Abstract

Background: Burnout is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion, and when experienced among healthcare workers, it is a sign of major concern for the health system. COVID-19 has induced a plethora of negative consequences, like extra workload on nurses, emotional stress, risk of infection to close family, and factors leading to burnout. Aim: This study aimed to measure the prevalence of burnout and resilience among nurses in Cyprus. Materials and Methods: An online questionnaire-based survey using Copenhagen Burnout Inventory and the Conor Davidson scale was carried out among all registered nurses in Cyprus. Burnout and resilience were defined at a cut-off score of 50 for each domain. Results: The prevalence of overall burnout was 54.26%. No significant difference was identified between the different demographics collected and burnout prevalence. Burnout was lower in the category of patient-related burnout (32.77%) compared to personal or work-related burnout (68.30% and 66.81%, respectively). Conclusion: There has been a significant prevalence of burnout found during the COVID-19 pandemic among nurses. On the contrary, our findings reflect that nurses have high resilience, something that is a benefit to the system as they never stop working. Nurses experiencing burnout have a higher tendency to leave their department/organization and their job, a fact that their management should have in mind. We suggest that management should be proactive and supportive in improving working conditions and providing assurance to employees. The long-term effects of the current pandemic need to be assessed later.