Facing Pandemic: Burnout in Nurses in Turkey

Burnout syndrome is a disorder that characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal lack of accomplishment perception and it is common in nurses. During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, nurses tried to take care of their patients and protect themselves and their families from disease and death. This study examines the factors affecting nurses' burnout in Turkey during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Data were collected from 3523 nurses in 69 cities across Turkey by sociodemographic questions and Maslach Burnout Scale with the electronic questionnaire created in the "SurveyMonkey" application between June 9, 2020 and June 21, 2020. To assess the impact of the pandemic on nurses' burnout, nurses were categorized as those working in pandemic units and others.

The response rate was 68%, and 3523 nurses from 69 cities across Turkey participated in the survey. Analyses were conducted with 2386 nurses that answered all questions. 76.45% of the nurses were from tertiary hospitals, and 54.9% (n = 1309) worked in pandemic units. Of 2386 participants, 86.13% (n = 2055) were female, the mean age was 33.9 (±8.43), and 58.76% (n = 1402) were married. Of 2386 participants, 54.9% (n = 1309) worked in pandemic units (outpatient clinics, inpatient clinics, and intensive care units). In multivariate linear regression analyses, the emotional exhaustion score was higher in nurses working in pandemic units (P < .05).

The factors that have been shown to cause burnout in previous studies were similar. However, in this study, it was also seen that the pandemic is a fundamental cause of burnout.