Pediatric nurses' grief experience, burnout and job satisfaction

Correlations among grief, burnout, and job satisfaction among highly satisfied pediatric nurses were examined using the Revised Grief Experience Inventory (RGEI), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), and Index of Work Satisfaction (IWS). Results showed that grief had significant correlations; positive with burnout, negative with job satisfaction. RN's reported significantly higher emotional exhaustion if their primary patients died and higher guilt if patients died younger. Conclusions suggest a dynamic statistical interaction among nurses' grief, burnout, and job satisfaction representing a pathway to intention to leave their unit, organization, or nursing. Recommendations include implementation and evaluation of grief intervention and education programs.