Burnout and productivity among Iranian nurses.

The concept of burnout describes a number of destructive aspects in the health-care system, especially in nursing. A descriptive study was carried out in order to investigate the relationship between burnout and productivity among 200 baccalaureate nurses working in educational hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Burnout and productivity questionnaires were employed and the data were analyzed by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that emotional exhaustion and depersonalization had significant negative correlations with productivity. Also, a significant positive correlation was found between personal accomplishment and productivity. Efforts to alleviate burnout among nurses should lead to an increased quality of patient care and improved quality of work life; if not, health-care systems will pay the price for nurses' burnout through the quality of services that they offer.