Study the rate of burnout and intention to leave and their relationship among emergency department nurses

Nursing is a stressful career and that's why nurses are prone to burnout. Emergency department nurses, due to the nature of the part they are working in, suffer from more stress than other nurses in other parts of the hospital. This can cause higher rates of burnout, which ultimately led them to resign. Present study aimed to determine the rate of burnout and intention to leave and the relation of these two variables among nurses working in the emergency department of selected educational hospitals in Shiraz. This is a descriptive - analytic study done among 187 nurses working in emergency departments in selected educational hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Job and demographic information questionnaire, and Mazlach job burnout questionnaire, and Hinshaw Anticipated Turnover Scale, were used to collect data. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics and independent t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient at a significance level of 0.05. Findings demonstrated that all nurses working in the emergency department suffer from moderate burnout in dimensions of emotional reduction [Frequency: 22.99 (13.79±) Intensity: 26.72 (15.01±)], depersonalization [Frequency: 6.39 (6.06±) Intensity: 7.17 (6.30±)], and suffer from high burnout in dimension of the individual unsuccessful [frequency: 30.93 (9.22±) intensity: 31.09 (7.8±)]. Also the rate of tendency to leave service was in an average range (2.95 out of 5) and there was a significant correlation between burnout and tendency to leave service. According to our findings, it is necessary that authorities make some decisions to reduce the rate of burnout among emergency department nurses which would lead to a reduction intention to leave.