The progressive impact of burnout on Maltese nurses

Abstract

Nursing profession is a highly stressful vocation. Participants (N=241), who work in three different hospitals in Malta, were assessed on the impact of burnout on their holistic wellbeing. Nurses completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Faith Maturity Scale, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, the Big Five Personality Inventory, and demographic variables. Results from this cross-sectional correlational study indicated that: a) professional nurses in Malta suffer from high levels of burnout, particularly from high exhaustion and depersonalization and low professional accomplishment; b) as expected, burnout negatively correlated with subjective well-being; and c) a path analysis indicated the progressive impact of burnout, first on ones personality and affective mood, and eventually on ones wellbeing and spirituality. The implications and recommendations from these results were discussed.