Job burnout among nurses during COVID‑19 pandemic: A systematic review

Nurses are in close contact with COVID‑19 patients and due to the high risk of infection, they experience fear and anxiety that can result in burnout. This study aimed to review the studies on burnout among nurses during the COVID‑19 epidemic.

The study followed the guideline for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta‑analysis (PRISMA). Using the keywords: “burnout,” “nurse,” and “COVID‑19” and with the help of Boolean operators, “AND” and “OR” the online databases, namely PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Science Direct were searched. Articles published from the first of February 2020 to 30 October, 2020 were retrieved. After the quality appraisal, the required data were extracted and analyzed.

Out of 85 articles identified in the initial search, and after removing duplicates and those that did not have the required data, seven articles entered the analysis. Among these articles, four (57.14%) reported moderate burnout and three articles (42.86) reported high level of burnout among nurses during the COVID‑19 pandemic.

A majority of the studies reported that nurses experienced a moderate level of burnout during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Given the prevalence of burnout in nurses and because nurses are the largest portion of the healthcare providers who are in close contact with patients infected by COVID‑19, it is necessary for health care policymakers to adopt strategies for preventing or reducing burnout among nurses.