Investigation of Burnout, its Associated Factors and its Effect on the Quality of Life of Critical Care Nurses Working in Buraydah Central Hospital at Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia

Burnout is a grave problem for critical care workers because they are exposed to prolonged psychosocial stressors, including advanced technology, high responsibilities and great patient acuity. The aim of this study was to investigate burnout, its associated factors and its effect on self-care among critical care nurses.

A descriptive correlational research design was carried out with 170 critical care nurses at Buraydah Central Hospital at Qassim Region in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire including socio-demographic and work-related characteristics was used, as well as the Short Form SF12 to assess the quality of life, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to assess the level of burnout.

The three Maslach Burnout Inventory subscales, high emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, low personal accomplishment and moderate total burnout score were used. The quality of life measure (sF12) showed moderate levels of physical, mental component score and total score of quality for the critical care nurses. Factors associated with burnout include age, nationality, and years of experience and the wish to change department showed statistical significance. Burnout and quality of life score had a significant negative correlation.

Age, nationality, years of experience and wish to change department are all significantly associated with burnout. Finally, burnout and quality of life score of these critical care nurses had a negative significant correlation.