Prevalence, perception and effects of burnout syndrome among nurses in Kitale county Referral Hospital

Abstract

Background: Burnout is a growing health concern among healthcare providers, especially nurses. The World Health Organization defined it as a condition that is characterized by extreme emotional exhaustion, feeling of depersonalization, and having low efficacy towards one's work. In Kenya, studies that have been conducted focused on burnout among other healthcare providers, other than nurses. Most of these studies have been carried out within Nairobi region, with no documented literature from Western Kenya, where Kitale County Referral Hospital is ranked top amongst county referral hospitals in the region. The study findings will inform policy in improving the working conditions of nurses. Objectives: 1) To determine the prevalence of burnout syndrome, 2) To explore the perception towards burnout syndrome 3) To determine the effects of burnout syndrome among nurses at KCRH. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that used mixed methods. A census was done for the quantitative arm, with a total of 269 nurses filling the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Health Service Survey (MBI-HSS), a tool that has been validated and standardized globally. The qualitative arm had 8 participants who were purposively sampled from the quantitative sample and took part in key informant interviews. Descriptive statistics were used for continuous data and frequency listings for categorical variables. Correlation analysis was done to establish a relationship between demographics and burnout. All analysis was carried out at 95% level of significance. Thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Results: Majority of the respondents were female (61%), aged between 31-40 years, worked at the facility for more than 5 years and were in outpatient department. Burnout prevalence rate was; emotional exhaustion 16.8% (95% CI; 15.5%-18%), depersonalization 7.6% (95% CI; 6.8%-8.3%), and personal accomplishment 33.2% (95% CI; 31.9%-34.4%). Gender was positively correlated with personal accomplishment (p= .021), while marital status (69% being married) was positively correlated with personal accomplishment (p=.023) and depersonalization (p=.026). Additionally, age (31-40 years) was positively correlated with personal accomplishment (p=.20) while the level of education (71% being diploma holders) was positively correlated with both personal accomplishment (p=.018) and depersonalization (p=.025). From key informant interviews, nurses had a good understanding of burnout. Those who experienced burnout reported low work productivity at the workplace and poor interpersonal relationships at home. Conclusion: Low burnout was reported among the nurses at KCRH compared to (Ndetei et al., 2008) who reported a 95% rate of burnout. Being married and having a diploma in nursing were significant aspects in lowering the level of burnout the nurses experienced. The nurses could recognize burnout and each of them had varied ways of coping with it. Recommendations: Institutional leaders to put in place measures to ensure nurses in all facilities get training on the burnout syndrome so that they may understand ways of mitigating it.