University of Louisville School of Nursing, Louisville, KY, United States of America.
University of North Carolina REX Healthcare, Raleigh, NC, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2022 Mar 16;17(3):e0263603. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0263603. eCollection 2022.
Burnout is a work-related stress syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Nurse burnout is related to nurses' deteriorating mental health and poorer patient care quality and thus, is a significant concern in healthcare. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has swept the world and distressed the healthcare systems. Because of the body's stress mechanism, it is vital to examine the current prevalence of nurse burnout and understand it at a biological level, using an epigenetic biomarker, telomere length.
To determine the prevalence of burnout among nurses in the Peri-Operative and Labor & Delivery settings pre and during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine the effects of burnout on absolute telomere length.
This is a cross-sectional study assessing the prevalence of nurses' burnout and the relationships between nurses' burnout and telomere length. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to stop the study during the mid of data collection. Even though the study was not designed to capture changes before and during the pandemic, we analyzed two groups' data before and during the pandemic. The study took place in a US hospital. Nurses in the hospital's Operating Room, Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, and Labor & Delivery Unit participated in the study. Maslach Burnout Inventory survey and nurses' demographics were administered online. Telomere length was measured via finger-prick blood.
146 nurses participated in the study, with 120 participants' blood samples collected. The high-level burnout rate was 70.5%. Correlation analysis did not reveal a direct correlation between nurse burnout and telomere length. However, in a multiple regression analysis, the final model contained the burnout subscale of emotional exhaustion, years as an RN, and work unit's nursing care quality. There was a low degree of departure from normality of the mean absolute telomere length in the pre-pandemic group and a substantial degree of departure in the during-pandemic group.
Nurse burnout is a prevalent phenomenon in healthcare, and this study indicates that nurses currently experience high levels of burnout. Nurses' cellular biomarker, telomere length, is shorter in the group of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic than before. Appropriate measures should be implemented to decrease nurses' burnout symptoms and improve nurses' psychological and physical health. Nurses, especially those younger than 60, report higher burnout symptoms, particularly emotional exhaustion. This study indicates the need for intervention to promote nurses' health during the pandemic and beyond. If not appropriately managed, nurse burnout may continue to be a significant issue facing the healthcare system.
burnout 是一种与工作相关的压力综合征，其特征为情绪耗竭、去人格化和个人成就感降低。护士 burnout 与护士心理健康恶化以及较差的患者护理质量有关，因此是医疗保健中的一个重要问题。2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫情席卷全球，困扰着医疗保健系统。由于身体的应激机制，使用端粒长度这一表观遗传生物标志物来检查当前护士 burnout 的流行情况并从生物学角度了解它至关重要。
在 COVID-19 大流行之前和期间，确定围手术期和分娩与产房环境中护士 burnout 的流行情况，并研究 burnout 对端粒长度的影响。
这是一项横断面研究，评估了护士 burnout 的流行情况，以及护士 burnout 与端粒长度之间的关系。由于 COVID-19 大流行，我们不得不在数据收集中期停止研究。尽管该研究并非旨在捕捉大流行前后的变化，但我们分析了大流行前后的两组数据。该研究在美国的一家医院进行。医院手术室、麻醉后护理单元和分娩与产房的护士参加了这项研究。通过在线管理 Maslach 职业倦怠量表调查和护士人口统计学数据。通过手指采血测量端粒长度。
146 名护士参加了研究，其中 120 名参与者采集了血液样本。高水平 burnout 率为 70.5%。相关性分析未显示护士 burnout 与端粒长度之间存在直接相关性。然而，在多元回归分析中，最终模型包含了倦怠子量表的情绪耗竭、注册护士工作年限和工作单位的护理质量。在大流行前组中，端粒长度的平均值接近正态分布，而在大流行期间组中，端粒长度的平均值偏离正态分布较大。
护士 burnout 是医疗保健中普遍存在的现象，本研究表明，护士目前经历着较高水平的 burnout。在 COVID-19 大流行期间，护士的细胞生物标志物端粒长度比大流行前更短。应采取适当措施减少护士 burnout 症状，改善护士的心理和身体健康。护士，尤其是年龄小于 60 岁的护士，报告了更高的 burnout 症状，特别是情绪耗竭。这项研究表明，需要在大流行期间及以后采取干预措施来促进护士的健康。如果不加以适当管理，护士 burnout 可能继续成为医疗保健系统面临的一个重要问题。
