[Critical factors affecting nurse use of in-hospital employee communication networks]

Level of concealment/suppression of true feelings in the course of carrying out nursing duties relates positively to risk of emotional exhaustion and burnout. Therefore, nurses need channels to release and reduce emotional stressors.

We surveyed nurse use of an In-Hospital Employee Communication Network (IECN) to identify its efficacy as well as factors that influence nurse IECN use. This paper also provides research suggestions to help further reduce emotional exhaustion and burnout in nurses.

We chose a region hospital as our case hospital and received Institution Review Board (IRB) approval for this study. A stratified sampling approach that reflected the ratio of staff in each department was used to distribute the questionnaires at the case hospital.

80 questionnaires were sent out with a response rate of 80%. All returned questionnaires were qualified as valid responses. IECN users numbered three times more than non-users. Nearly sixty percent of non-users did not use IECN due to, "lack of interest in the IECN." About half of the users have more than four years' experience with IECN. Primary motivations for using the IECN were entertainment, learning, and emotional relaxation, e.g., expressing emotions (43.8%) and emotional support (31.3%).

IECN may be improved by enriching content to increase readability. Hospital managers should pay attention to network content and give timely feedback to improve nurse communication and effectively relieve emotional stresses to reduce risks of emotional exhaustion and burnout. Increasing opportunities for nurses to obtain new knowledge through information sharing via IECN can achieve a win-win situation for both the hospital and its employees.