Assessing the Relationship between Burnout Syndrome and Job Stress among Nursing Staff in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background. The nursing profession is viewed as highly stressful due to its demanding and complicated nature. It has been reported that nurses encounter high levels of work-related stress and burnout compared to other healthcare workers. Objective. The main objective of this study was to assess the levels of work-related stress and burnout and examine the relationship between them among hospital nurses in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Methods. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study conducted among public hospital nurses in Qassim, Saudi Arabia. The Maslach Burnout Inventory Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) and Expanded Nursing Stress Scale (ENSS) were used to measure burnout and work-related stress, respectively, and data were collected through a self-reporting questionnaire. Results. A total of 253 participants responded to the survey, a response rate of 92.0%. The results indicated that 75.5% and 22.5% of the participants had moderate and high levels of work-related stress, respectively. Among the participants, 44.3%, 56.9% and 86.6% had high levels of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalisation (DP) and reduced personal accomplishment (PA), respectively. Significant positive correlations were found between work-related stress and burnout subscales; EE (r = 0.423), DP (r = 0.358) and reduced PA (r = 0.208). It was also found that work-related stress had a positive and statistically significant effect on burnout (β = 1.45, 95% CI: 0.76 to 2.10, p-value = 0.001). However, the findings revealed that nationality (β = 0.01, 95% CI: -0.09 to 0.11, p-value = 0.864) and hospital type (small: β = -0.03, 95% CI: -0.17 to 0.10, p-value = 0.709; large: β = -0.02, 95% CI: -0.15 to 0.11, p-value = 0.808) did not moderate this relationship. Conclusion. Hospital administration and nursing leadership teams must provide essential alleviation strategies to diminish work-related stress and burnout among nurses.