Job satisfaction and its relationship with burnout among nurses working in COVID-19 wards: A descriptive correlational study

OBJECTIVE: Nurses' feeling of Job satisfaction and burnout profoundly impact the quality of nursing care. COVID-19, due to its unknown nature and high contagiousness, can cause high levels of stress and tension and, finally, burnout in nurses, affecting their job satisfaction. Therefore, we aimed to determine the level of job satisfaction and its relationship with burnout among nurses working in COVID-19 wards. METHODS: This is a descriptive correlational study in which a total of 251 nurses working in COVID-19 wards were enrolled using stratified random sampling. Data collection was conducted using the demographic questionnaire, the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULT: The results showed that the majority of nurses (75.7%) had a low level of job satisfaction, 40.6% of nurses had a high level of emotional exhaustion (EE), 41.8% had a moderate level of EE, and 50.2% of nurses had a high level of depersonalization (DP). Furthermore, over half of nurses (55.8%) experienced reduced personal accomplishment (PA), and 27.5% had a moderate level of reduced PA. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between job satisfaction and EE (r=-0.394, p<.001). Moreover, job satisfaction negatively correlated with reduced PA (r=-5/590, p<.001). However, no statistically significant correlation was found between job satisfaction and DP (r=-0.122, p=.053). CONCLUSION: As most nurses reported low job satisfaction and high rates of burnout, nurse managers should consider appropriate measures to correct these factors. Such measures could also improve patient satisfaction and, ultimately, the efficiency of the health system.