Burnout and coping strategies among hospital staff nurses

This study examined the relationship between use of coping strategies and burnout among 150 randomly selected staff nurses from four hospitals. The instruments used were the frequency dimension of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson 1981) and the Ways of Coping (Revised) (Folkman & Lazarus 1985). In the canonical correlation analysis, two significant canonical variate sets differentiated nurses on the dimension of burnout. Nurses who experienced increased levels of burnout used the coping strategies of escape/avoidance, self-controlling and confronting (P less than 0.001). Nurses who experience decreased levels of burnout used the coping strategies of planful problem solving, positive reappraisal, seeking social support, and self-controlling (P less than 0.003). Self-controlling coping, although present in both variate sets, was used to a lesser extent by nurses with decreased burnout levels. The positive relationship between planful problem solving and reduced burnout levels supports the theoretical framework of Lazarus. This framework asserts that during the appraisal process, persons evaluate the harmfulness of an event and their own coping resources. Persons with lower levels of burnout may perceive the event as amenable to change or they may perceive their coping resources as adequate. Either perception may promote the view that the situation is amenable to problem solving. Another rationale for the effectiveness of particular coping strategies may lie in the reactions that these strategies engender in others. The use of planful problem solving, seeking social support and positive reappraisal has been reported to result in the offering of greater social support than when confronting and self-controlling coping were used.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)