The prevalence and associated factors of burnout among nurses working at Base and District Hospitals in Kahawatta cluster area: A descriptive cross-sectional study

Background: Burnout has a detrimental effect on nurses' physical and psychosocial well-being, which may, in turn, lead to compromised patient care.  Hence, it is of high importance to understand the prevalence and associated factors of burnout among nurses.
Objectives: To assess the prevalence and associated factors of burnout among nurses working at Base Hospital Kahawatta and six District hospitals in the Kahawatta cluster area.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among nurses employed at Base Hospital Kahawatta and six District Hospitals in the cluster area. A self-administered questionnaire on socio-demographic data was administered to all the nurses who consented to participate in the study. The participants were screened for burnout using the Professional Fulfilment Index (PFI). Out of 180 nurses employed in these hospitals, 170 completed the study. The prevalence of burnout and professional fulfilment was calculated using the IBM SPSS version 24. The Chi-square test and independent-sample t-test were used to evaluate the associations of burnout. A type I error of 0.05 was considered in all significance analyses.
Results: The prevalence of burnout among nurses was 31.8% (95% CI: 24.8-39.3). Most of the study participants were female nurses (n=165, 97.1%), married (n=163, 95.9%), with a mean age of 39.1 years (SD=7.3). Of 170 respondents, 47.6% (95%CI: 39.9-55.4) reported a lack of professional fulfilment. A statistically significant association was noted between burnout and lack of professional fulfilment (p=0.000), lack of support from the working unit (p=0.010), and poor work-life balance (p=0.028).
Conclusion: This study reported that nearly one-third of nurses experienced burnout. Lack of professional fulfilment, a less supportive workplace and poor work-life balance were significantly associated with burnout in this study population. This highlights the importance of raising awareness and introducing preventive measures of burnout among nurses.