Beyond the Outbreak of COVID-19: Factors Affecting Burnout in Nurses in Iran

BACKGROUND: Nurses working in treating patients with COVID-19 are exposed to various stressors, such as fear of COVID-19, stress, and high workload, leading to burnout. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify the level of burnout and its predictors in nurses working in hospitals for COVID-19 patients. METHODS: Participants in this study were nurses working in 11 hospitals for COVID-19 patients in the Fars province of Iran. The Maslach burnout and the UK Health and Safety stress questionnaires were used to assess burnout and stress, respectively. Analysis, using multiple regression in the SPSS21 software, aimed to identify the factors affecting burnout. FINDINGS: The mean level of burnout in the nurses at the COVID-19 hospitals was 57 out of 120, and burnout was affected by workload (β = 0.69, p < 0.001), job stress (β = 0.25, p < 0.001) and inadequate hospital resources for the prevention of COVID-19 (β = –0.16, p < 0.001). These three variables explained 87% of the variance in burnout. CONCLUSIONS: The burnout of nurses directly exposed to COVID-19 patients is more than nurses in other wards, and workload is the most significant cause of burnout in them. Therefore, necessary measures such as hiring more nurses, reducing working hours and increasing rest periods are necessary to reduce workload. In addition, the job stress of these nurses should be managed and controlled, and the hospital resources needed to prevent this disease should be provided.