Assertiveness affecting burnout of novice nurses at university hospitals

Abstract

Abstract Aim: This prospective cohort study aimed to clarify the relationship between the level of assertiveness and the incidence of burnout in novice nurses in their first year at university hospitals and to obtain indices of assertion training in order for them to avoid burnout. Methods: The subjects were 1203 novice nurses working at 20 university hospitals in Japan who gave informed consent to participate in this research. The questionnaires were completed by 949 novice nurses in June 2003, and they were divided into two cohorts to observe the incidence of burnout, which was investigated in June 2004. Results: At the baseline, we obtained responses from 1030 novice nurses (85.6%) who had agreed to join the study. Ninety‐two (20.5%) of the novice nurses experienced burnout and 43 (7.2%) experienced serious burnout. Both high and low levels of assertiveness score tended to high incidence rates of burnout. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that the factors affecting burnout were lack of senior nursing staff support and very low and low levels of assertiveness, and those affecting serious burnout were male gender, hospital location in Tokyo, and very low and low levels of assertiveness. Conclusions: Novice nurses tend to burn out easily when their assertiveness scores are too low or too high. The ideal value of the assertiveness score seems to be medium.