Personal, professional and workplace factors associated with burnout in Jordanian midwives: A national study

To investigate the prevalence of burnout and explore associated socio-demographic and work-related factors among Jordanian midwives.

A cross-sectional survey design. The survey tool included the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and socio-demographic and work-related data forms.

All government-funded hospitals in Jordan (18 hospitals) that provide antenatal, labour and birth, or postnatal care for women.

A sample of 321 midwives participated.

Frequencies, means, and standard deviations were calculated as appropriate on the demographic variables and scale scores. The CBI was assessed for internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha. Multiple regression analyses using backward elimination were undertaken to determine associations between variables and CBI subscales. An alpha level of 0.05 was used for all statistical tests.

Over three-quarters of midwives reported personal (78.1%), work-related (82.2%), and client-related (71.3%) burnout (scored >50 on CBI). Compared to midwives aged between 21 - 30 years, those between 31 - 40 years of age scored on average a 11.75 (95% CI = 7.05 - 16.45) points lower personal burnout score. Married midwives had on average a 6.44 (95% CI = 1.57 - 11.31) points higher personal burnout score compared to single midwives. Midwives with ≥ 10 years' experience had on average a 4.29 (95% CI = 1.93 - 6.64), 5.27 (95% CI = 3.17 - 7.36), and 7.31 (95% CI = 4.84 - 9.78) points lower personal, work-related, and client-related burnout scores respectively compared to midwives with < 10 years' experience.Compared to midwives providing care for 1 - 5 women per shift, those providing care for > 10 women per shift reported 9.98 (95% CI = 6.06 - 13.90) and 5.35 (95% CI = 0.71 - 9.99) points higher work-related and client-related burnout scores respectively. Midwives who rotated between shifts had on average a 5.87 (95% CI = 1.27 - 10.48) and 11.2 (95% CI = 5.78 - 16.66) points higher work-related and client-related burnout scores respectively than those who did not rotate.

The high prevalence of burnout identifies the urgent need for a national plan to address midwives' psychological health in Jordan. Midwives should be appropriately trained to recognize the signs and symptoms of burnout in a timely way, and for support services to be offered. The government could consider implementing continuity of midwifery care models, reducing the administrative burden on midwives, and empowering them to work to their full scope of practice.