burnout levels and affecting factors in nurses working in a university hospital

Introduction: It was aimed to determine the burnout level and associated factors in nurses working in a university hospital. Methods: The study was designed as a cross-sectional study. The Maslach Burnout Inventory, 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey were used to assess the level of burnout in nurses working in Erciyes University Faculty of Medicine between April 2017 and May 2017. Results: A total of 44 nurses with the mean age of 30.5 years (range: 22-46) participated in the study. Fourteen (31.8%) were working in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and the remaining 30 (68.2%) were working in other departments. 31.8% were in the age group 25-29, 31.8% in the age group 30-34, and 13.6% in the age group 35-39 and, 22.8% of participants were ≥40 years of age. Nurses working in the other departments had higher scores on SF-36 role limitations due to emotional problems scale than PICU nurses (p=0.039). At the same time, PICU nurses were also better in terms of social functioning than nurses working in other departments (p=0.049). It was observed that working in intensive care unit decreased personal goal achievement [odds ratio (OR) 2.13,95%, confidence interval (CI) 1.21-3.84] 2.13 times and increased depersonalization (OR 1.8, 95%, CI 1.07-3.34) 1.8 times. In multiple regression analysis, it was found that working in intensive care unit decreased personal goal achievement (OR 2.07, 95%, CI 1.17-3.74) 2.07 times and increased depersonalization (OR 1.76, 95%, CI 1.12-3.21) 1.76 times. Conclusion: Nurses working in intensive care units constitute one of the highest risk groups for burnout syndrome due to stressful working conditions as well as intense work environment. For this reason, assessment of burnout in PICU nurses at certain intervals and based on the results obtained, improving working conditions besides providing coping skills training may be suggested.