The Effects of Burnout Prevention Training on Burnout Symptoms in Nurses

Abstract

ABSTRACT Burnout results from extended occupational stress, and is attended by energy loss, reduced patient concern, avoidance and pessimism. This study is a systematic attempt to understand this process in nursing, with 72 nurses employed in direct care positions volunteering to participate. The SCL-90R, a validated self-report questionnaire, which includes the prominent features of burnout, was used to compare participants in a two-day Burnout Prevention Workshop, conducted at three medical centers, with a control group which received no such experience. Each workshop included both cognitive and experiential features, including self-regulation techniques, imagery, meditation, philosophical considerations and conceptual information on stress, depression and burnout. The content was specifically designed for nurses and the unique characteristics of the stressors they encounter. The Burnout Prevention Workshop experience group differed significantly from the control group (utilizing a two-way analysis of covariance, treatment by hospital, covarying on the pretest score) when both were evaluated before and six weeks after the training dates. Differences were in terms of the workshop groups reporting less depression, somatization, obsessive-compulsive qualities, feelings of interpersonal inadequacy, hostility and two summary scores. There was also a reduction in anxiety, phobic behavior, paranoid sensitivity and psychoticism, but these fell short of a statistically significant level. Overall, the three workshop sites revealed the same pattern of responses, with the exception of the depressive and anxiety scales. Essentially, the treatment effects were consistent across hospitals. The results establish that a two-day experiential-conceptual Burnout Prevention Training Workshop can significantly reduce stress related symptoms in a nursing population.