Empathy and Burnout Among Nurses: a Cross-Sectional Study in a University Hospital in Central Greece

Empathy cultivates deeper interpersonal relationships; however, frequent exposure can trigger the risk of burnout. This study aims to predict empathy, burnout, and syndrome among nursing staff in a university hospital in Central Greece.

This is a synchronic study on the nursing staff of the university general hospital in central Greece. The sample consisted of 210 nurses who took part in the study by completing a questionnaire that included demographic and social characteristics, the "Copenhagen Burnout Inventory" and the "Composite Empathy Scale." The Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and linear regression analysis with a statistical significance of 0.05 were used for the statistical analysis. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the potential predictive factors associated with burnout and empathy.

The prevalence of burnout and empathy among nursing staff was 62.5%. A significant positive correlation between empathy with burnout was found in almost all dimensions. For burnout subscales, "Personal Burnout" was found to be at 44.1%, Operational Burnout "at 62.5%, and in" Burn related to patients "the average was 58.3%. A higher level of burnout is associated with" Workplace Burnout "for nurses on shift work. There was a significant negative correlation between "Cognitive Personal Empathy" and the "Personal Burnout." Also, 92.9% of the nursing staff reported suffering from a disease.

The nurses in the university hospital are "aged staff" with health problems, high levels of empathy, and burnout.