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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to clarify the concepts trait anxiety, personality hardiness and burnout syndrome and their relation to organizational characteristics.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to explain the relation between personality hardiness and the burnout syndrome according to the study results.
The ICUs are stressful environments to work in due to the use of highly advanced technology, the need to make quick decisions and the other daily challenges of caring for severely ill patients. The repeated exposure to stress events may harm nurses' ability to function effectively and influence their susceptibility to burnout. Nurses' ability to adapt to stress and cope effectively depends not only on the characteristics of the stressors and on the working environment characteristics but on their unique characteristics and available repertoire of coping mechanisms. Type of nursing unit was found in several studies as one of the work characteristics significantly correlated with burnout.
The study examined two personality characteristics, trait anxiety and hardiness, that may affect burnout among nurses working in intensive care units.
Method
This quantitative study was conducted at Rabin medical center in the center of Israel.
Sample- Consisted of 80 nurses working in highly specialized/ technology rich units: cardiovascular, neurosurgical, nephrology and respiratory units.
Instrument- data were collected through 4 part structured questionnaire:
1) The Hardiness questionnaire (Kobasa, 1979);
2) Trait anxiety questionnaire (Spilberger, 1970);
3) The Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslach & Jackson, 1982);
4) Demographic data.
Main results
* Level of hardiness was found to have a significant effect on burnout (p= 0.012), with inverse relationship.
* Level of trait anxiety was not found to be correlated with burnout symptoms.
* Of all demographic characteristics, only nurse' position was found to have a significant effect on burnout (p=0.032).
* In the final prediction model we found that hardiness and position explained significantly 28% of the burnout variability among nurses working in ICUs (p=0.000).
Conclusion
Nurses' personal hardiness, especially among those in management positions in highly specialized units, influences their ability to adapt to their stressful work environment. Efforts directed toward reducing burnout will be discussed.
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