Professional Burnout in Nurses across India: A Cross - Sectional Study

Background and objectives: Excessive and prolonged work-related stress has always been a cause for burnout among healthcare professionals. This has led to emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion. This survey was conducted to assess the burnout among medical practitioners using the abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventory (aMBI) scale. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted as in 1018 (836 female, 180 male, 2 did not specify) nursing professionals across India. A standardized and widely accepted 12-item aMBI scale with three domains of ?emotional exhaustion?, ?depersonalization?, and ?personal accomplishment? was used to assess the burnout in nursing professionals. The distribution of responses for each variable was examined using frequencies and percentages among the sub-groups to find out the burnout levels of various components of the scales. Results: Professional burnout was observed in at least one domain of the aMBI scale in 62.7% (638) nursing professionals. The burnout was observed in the three domains of aMBI i.e., ?emotional exhaustion?, ?depersonalization?, and ?personal accomplishment? in 9.1% (93), 9.2% (94), and 31.5% (321)nursing professionals respectively. A total of 16 (1.6%) nurses had burnout in all the three domains of aMBI. There was significantly greater burnout observed in nurses in academics(p < 0.0001) and those with longer duration (>5 years) of work experience (p,0.031). However, there was greater but non-significant burnout observed in females (p, 0.163)and younger ( < 30 years of age) nurses (p, 0.278). Conclusion: The results suggest high level of burnout in nursing professionals and warrant immediate actions to address this issue.