Study on relations among emergency nurses' psychological capital and job burnout in the thirdgrade class-A hospital

Abstract

Objective To investigate the current situation of emergency nurses' psychological capital and job burnout, and to analyze the relationship between them. Methods A total of 148 emergency nurses in the third-grade class-A hospital were investigated using nurse psychological capital questionnaire and nurse job burnout scale. Results The average scores of psychological capital and optimism, efficacy, resilience, hope for emergency nurses were 3.24±0.53, 3.35±0.85, 3.26±0.57, 3.24±0.58, 3.18±0.69. The average scores of job burnout and emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment, personified were 2.51±0.87, 3.04±1.08, 2.38±1.06, 1.78±1.36. The scores of different ages, titles, family support, number of children and monthly income situation were statistically different (P < 0.05 or 0.01) in psychological capital and job burnout. The scores of different genders were statistically different (P < 0.01) in job burnout. Emergency nurses' psychological capital was negatively correlated to job burnout. After controlling for the demographic variables, the overall state of emergency nurses' psychological capital and resilience could explain 33.3% (R2= 0.116-0.449) for the variances of job burnout. Conclusions Nursing managers should pay attention to the psychological situation of emergency nurses, take measures to reduce job burnout, improve nursing quality and the long-term development of themselves and hospital. Key words: Psychological capital; Job burnout; Emergency nurse