HARDINESS AND OCCUPATIONAL BURNOUT AMONG NURSING MANAGERS IN MASHHAD UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

Abstract Introduction: Exhaustion of energy or burnout is a significant problem for health care and medical staff, especially in nursing and nursing management. Burnout is a syndrome consisting of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, feeling disillusioned, and helplessness in that individuals typically face increased emotional, mental, and physical stress. This study aimed to investigate job burnout and its relation to hardiness in nursing managers. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, which was carried out in 13 educational hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2014 on 237 nursing managers, 96 nursing managers were selected randomly based on a Morgan Table. Data were collected using Maslach Burnout Inventory. SPSS version 20 was applied for analysis, and descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and Pearson correlation coefficients were used. Results: Participants were 65 females and 31 males with a mean age of 37.5 (7.6) and average work experience of 12.2 (3.5) years. Sixty-three percent of nursing managers had a high level of hardiness, 24% had a low level of hardiness, and 13% had an average level of hardiness. From a gender perspective, there was no statistically significant difference in the hardiness levels (p = 0.999). Pearson correlation test showed a significant inverse correlation between hardiness and burnout (r = - 0.52, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Study results showed a medium negative correlation between hardiness and occupational burnout, in that, by reduction of hardiness, burnout increased in nursing managers. Although education of methods for the capability of managing unfavorable conditions in a nursing training program can reduce burnout in the high-stress occupational environment, it is necessary for the policymaker to pay attention to nurses’ problems and offer encouragement, advantages, and periods of furlough.