Nurse burnout : Prevention and recovery : Literature review

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the protective measures of nurses burnout. The aim was to provide information on how nurses can prevent and recover from burnout. This study will be useful for both practicing nurses and nursing students understand how to take necessary measures to pre-vent and control burnout, hence improving patient satisfaction.

The thesis was conducted as a literature review. Data was collected from different scientific journals such as SAGE publications, PubMed and EBSCO. 15 articles that met the criteria given, were se-lected for the thesis. These articles were less than ten years, available in full text and were all in English. Articles selected were from both qualitative and quantitative studies. Findings from these studies revealed methods of burnout prevention among nurses and also recovery process.

The study indicated that burnout is a preventable condition. Emotional intelligence, Self-awareness and coping mechanisms were linked to high job satisfaction, less stress and hence reduced the chances of burnout among nurses. Controlling of emotions in a suitable way was noted to be a vital component in burnout prevention. Healthy life style was recommended in burnout prevention. It was noted in this thesis that when the body is well conditioned and healthy, handling work stress was much easier. The results also pointed out the recovery process from burnout. Rehabilitation was seen to play a great role in recovery process. The main aim for rehabilitation was seen as promoting behaviour change. During rehabilitation period patients developed new strategies to handle stress. Organizational changes and social support were identified as a great source of empowerment and had a positive effect on burnout recovery. The results of this study will serve as guide to nursing students and practising nurses as well understand the burnout syndrome and learn coping strategies and prevention interventions.