Frequency and burden with ethical conflicts and burnout in nurses

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Occupational Health
• Bioethics

Background:

• Professional burnout (PB) is a significant concern in healthcare.
• The role of ethical conflicts (ECs) in PB is understudied.
• Nurses frequently encounter ethical dilemmas impacting their well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the frequency and burden of ECs among nurses.
• To investigate the relationship between EC frequency, burden, and PB.
• To identify specific ECs contributing to PB.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 100 nurses.
• Utilized a custom questionnaire for EC frequency and burden assessment.
• Employed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to measure PB.

Main Results:

• Most frequent ECs involved nurse-patient relationships.
• PB showed a positive correlation with EC frequency (r = .54, p = .001).
• PB also correlated positively with EC burden (r = .22, p = .03).
• EC frequency and burden were not consistently related.
• EC frequency appeared to be a stronger predictor of PB than burden.

Conclusions:

• Ethical conflicts are a significant factor in nurse professional burnout.
• Both frequent and less frequent ECs pose a risk for PB.
• Interventions should address the frequency of ECs to mitigate PB.