Association of burnout syndrome and global self-esteem among Polish nurses

The development of burnout syndrome is conditioned by demographic variables, personality-related variables, ways of coping with difficulties and organizational/professional factors. Burnout is a psychological syndrome of emotional exhaustion and fatigue that may occur in people working with other people in certain ways. Understanding the role of global self-esteem and sociodemographic and work environment-related variables in the development of burnout syndrome in Polish nurses was the aim of this study.

The study included 1,806 nurses working in 23 hospitals in north-eastern Poland. The average age was 44.7 ±7.96 years. The questionnaire was of a proprietary design. The Copenhagen Burnout Inventory Scale and the Rosenberg SES scale were used.

With regard to contact with patients, symptoms of burnout were present in 28.2% of respondents. Furthermore, 27% of respondents showed work-related burnout and personal burnout was indicated in 21% of them. Almost half of the respondents (46.6%) evaluated their self-esteem at an average level. The obtained results of the regression analysis indicated that global self-esteem was a predictor of professional burnout in nurses. Global self-esteem has important consequences in many aspects of the mental condition. It was found that global self-esteem is a key factor influencing personal burnout symptoms, and its modification may be used as a preventive measure.

Developing personal resources and deriving benefits from them may be important in the prevention of burnout syndrome. This study indicated the need to carry out preventive measures in the workplace to protect nurses from burnout.