Insomnia and burnout in Greek Nurses

Sleep disturbances and burnout are possibly related to each other, although the exact nature of this relationship is still under investigation.  The purpose of the study was to investigate the prevalence of insomnia and its relation with burnout levels in a group of nurses working in psychiatric, pediatric, internal medicine and surgery departments in the public hospitals of central Greece.

One hundred and seventy four nurses working in internal medicine, surgery, psychiatric and pediatric sector in public hospitals of Central Greece were enrolled in the study. Maslach's burnout inventory and Athens Insomnia Scale were used to evaluate burnout and insomnia respectively. Statistical significance was set at p=0.05.

Mean age of the nurses was 35.19 ± 7.07 (22-56). One hundred and fifteen (95.8%) nurses were women and 71 nurses (59.2%) were married. Mean insomnia score was 10.00. Approximately 3 out of 4 nurses exhibited high burnout levels.  Nurses working in the department of surgery and those with more than 4.5 night shifts per month exhibited higher insomnia scores. Insomnia score was correlated with burnout subscales, positively with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization and negatively with personal achievements scale.

Insomnia and burnout scales are linearly related to each other. Younger nurses are particular vulnerable to insomnia. Job reform should target at younger nurses and those working on surgical departments who might also benefit from additional education and training to reduce insomnia and burnout. Hippokratia 2014; 18 (2):150-155.