Employer-provided wellbeing support for nurses working in intensive care units: A national cross-sectional study

Intensive care units are characterised as high-stress work environments that may negatively affect nurses' wellbeing. Employer-provided support has a crucial role in reducing burnout and improving wellbeing.

The aim of this study was to examine wellbeing supports routinely offered by employers of nurses working in intensive care units and examine the relationships amongst perceived organisational support, wellbeing, and burnout.

A cross-sectional study of nurses working in Australian intensive care units was conducted from 4 to 19 September 2023. A web-based survey was distributed via the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses and social media, with snowball sampling. Validated tools for perceived organisational support, subjective wellbeing, and burnout were used.

Of 668 responses, 632 met inclusion criteria for analysis (94.6%). Education and training were the most common supports recognised by nurses (63.4%, n = 401). The most helpful support was childcare assistance (M = 3.17, standard deviation [SD] = 1.38). Higher levels of perceived organisational support were associated with better subjective wellbeing (r = 0.20; p < 0.001). Perceived organisational support was higher for nurses without burnout (M = 4.15, SD = 0.89) than for those with burnout (M = 3.64, SD = 0.85; t [625] = 7.43, p < 0.001, two-tailed). For every one-point increase in the mean value of perceived organisational support, nurses were 56% less likely to report experiencing burnout than those who perceived lower organisational support (B = -0.81, p < 0.001, odds ratio = 0.44, 95% confidence interval: 0.35-0.56). The strongest predictor of reporting burnout was engaging in an education/clinical support job role (B = 0.88, p = 0.04, odds ratio = 2.41, 95% confidence interval: 1.04-5.60).

Nurses working in Australian intensive care units perceived employer-provided wellbeing support to be inadequate. Perceived organisational support is a modifiable independent predictor of burnout, suggesting that employers need to work with nurses to improve wellbeing supports.

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