Factors associated with burnout among public hospital nurses in South Korea: A Job Demands-Resources perspective

Burnout among nurses in South Korean public hospitals is an important workforce issue in settings characterized by high job demands and resource constraints. This cross-sectional study examined burnout levels and factors associated with burnout among nurses working in five public hospitals in South Korea using pre-pandemic data collected in 2019. A total of 206 nurses completed validated questionnaires assessing burnout, workload, coworker support, mindfulness, and perceived nursing organizational culture. Demographic and work-related characteristics were also collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, analysis of variance, Pearson's correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression. The mean burnout score was 3.10 out of 5. In the adjusted regression model, higher workload was associated with higher burnout (β = 0.53, p < 0.001), whereas higher mindfulness (β = -0.20, p < 0.001) and stronger perceived relationship-oriented nursing organizational culture (β = -0.19, p = 0.005) were associated with lower burnout. The model explained 58.0% of the variance in burnout. Coworker support and other organizational culture dimensions were not independently associated with burnout after adjustment for other factors. Therefore, burnout among nurses in public hospitals may be associated with both job demands and resources, particularly workload. These findings provide baseline evidence for future longitudinal and intervention research on burnout among public hospital nurses.