Occurrence of professional burnout and severity of depressive symptoms among cardiac nurses: A prospective and observational study

Type of funding sources: None.

Depression impacts 14% of the adult population in the European Union, and it is known to impact work performance. Nurses with depression are not only likely to suffer themselves, but their illness may have an impact on their coworkers and potentially the quality of care they provide.

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression in a sample of hospital-employed cardiac nurses to determine if burnout is associated with depression.

A cross-sectional survey design of 400 registered nurses was used. Measures included individual characteristics, workplace characteristics, burnout and depression using the standardized instruments: the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Patient Health Questionaire-9 (PHQ-9).

The level of professional burnout (MBI) showed high levels of emotional exhaustion (EE) in 53.25% of nurses, high depersonalization (DEP) in 52.50%, and low personal accomplishment (PA) in 72.75%. PHQ-9 and BDI were shown to correlate significantly and positively with all three MBI subscales (p < 0.05). Data analysis demonstrated a high depressive symptom rate and a high occupational burnout which had significant relationships with depression (p < 0.05).

Nurses play an important role in health care system; therefore, it is very important to recognize the symptoms of occupational burnout and depression. The prevalence of nurses with depression and professional burnout is high and may negatively affect the quality of patient care.