Burnout among nursing students: a mixed method study

OBJECTIVE. Investigate the burnout syndrome among undergraduate students in nursing. METHODS. Explanatory sequential mixed method study conducted at a public university in Brazil. Of the 119 nursing students, 114 consented to participate and answered a questionnaire composed of sociodemographic, academic variables, and the Maslach Burnout Inventory - Student Survey, which were analyzed by multiple linear regression. The participants of the quantitative phase with the indicative / risk of burnout were interviewed individually (n=21) to provide an in-depth understanding of the students' experiences regarding the dimensions of the syndrome, whose statements were analyzed by the Collective Subject Discourse. RESULTS. The prevalence of burnout syndrome was 10.5% among the surveyed. The more advanced the school year, the higher were the exhaustion (p=0.003), depersonalization (p<0.001) and low academic effectiveness (p=0.012) scores. Students with a higher workload of assignments also had higher scores of exhaustion (p=0.001), depersonalization (p<0.001) and academic (in)effectiveness (p=0.042). Dissatisfaction with the course was related to higher exhaustion (p=0.049) and depersonalization (p=0.001). The collective speeches showed the daily demands of the course, considered as intense, producing overload and exhaustion, which produced symptoms of physical and mental illness. Thus, there was the student's distancing from the course activities, as a defensive attitude, which culminated in feelings of incompetence and frustration. CONCLUSION. The occurrence of burnout syndrome dimensions among nursing students was related to the activities of academic daily life. It is urgent to invest in health promotion and prevention actions of these individuals in the university context.