Occupational burnout and work-home interactions in hospital-employed nurses

Introduction: Occupational burnout mainly affects professions that involve helping others. Work-life balance may be defined as an opportunity to reach one’s aims in various spheres. Because of the character of nursing and its strong feminisation in Polish culture, nurses are expected to combine emotional commitment to their job while also fulfilling family duties. Aim of the study: The objective of the study was to analyse the relations between occupational burnout and work-home interactions in hospital-employed nurses. Material and methods: The study was conducted as a diagnostic survey in a group of 179 hospital-employed nurses. The interviewers applied a self-designed questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the SWING questionnaire. Results: The average age of respondents was 35.4 (SD = 10.46) years. Bachelor’s degree was the most common education level (52.5%). Workplaces included non-invasive (44.1%) and medical treatment wards (55.9%). 22.3% of nurses declared extra employment. Average subscale values showed average emotional exhaustion (22.9), low depersonalisation (8.1), and low personal accomplishment (27.63). There was a positive correlation between emotional exhaustion ( r = 0.51, p < 0.01) and depersonalisation ( r = 0.32, p = 0.001) and a negative work-home relation. Moreover, depersonalisation had a positive ( r = 0.51, p = 0.01) and personal accomplishment had a negative ( r = –0.28, p = 0.01) influence on negative home-work relation. All burnout subscales affected work-home interactions. No significant correlation was observed between positive home-work relation and the analysed burnout dimensions. Conclusions: The examined nurses reported high emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and lowered personal accomplishment. These findings prove a significant correlation between work-home interaction and professional burnout.