| Summary: | INTRODUCTION AND AIM:
Research recognises the clear links between nurses’ experience of professional
burnout and the quality of the work environment. To that end it is extremely
important for nurse managers to create an organisational climate that promotes the
emotional stability of nurses. This could help to improve global patient safety by
reducing the frequency of adverse events. Many of the factors commonly associated
with burnout, also causes unsafe patient care, and poor quality of care. Effectively
managing patient safety must be a priority in units where nurses face high pressure.
Staff in critical care units (CCUs) spends a tremendous amount of time with people,
including the patient, family members, physicians, and other members of the multidisciplinary
team that might lead to emotional and physical exhaustion and burnout.
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between nurse burnout and
the safety and quality of patient care in private critical care units in Gauteng.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD:
A quantitative correlational design was selected to address the research question at
hand. A previously developed checklist was used to describe the demographic
characteristics of the critical care units that participated in the study (n=31). A total
of 298 critical care nurses participated in the study (n=298). Burnout among
registered nurses working in these units was explored by means of the Maslach
Burnout Inventory Scale (MBI). The registered nurses’ perceptions of the safety and
quality of patient care in their units were explored by means of the RN4CAST
questionnaire. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.
FINDINGS:
The mean scores for emotional exhaustion measured 2.69, for depersonalisation
1.55 and for personal accomplishment 4.43. From the mean scores of each of the
sub–scales of the MBI it was evident that registered nurses working in private critical
care units in Gauteng province did not experience burnout. The relationship
between burnout and the safety and quality of patient care was investigated by means of a Spearman rank correlation coefficient. The results indicated that
emotional exhaustion demonstrated a negative relationship with the quality of
nursing care in the unit (r = –0.275; p=0.00), and patient safety in the unit (r = –0.245;
p=0.00). Depersonalisation demostrated a negative relationship with the quality of
care in the nursing unit (r = –0.249; p=0.00 and patient safety in the unit (r = –0.205;
p=0.00). Personal accomplishment demonstrated a weak positive relationship with
the quality of nursing care in the unit (r = 0.197; p=0.003) and a moderate positive
relationship with patient safety in the unit (r = 0.204; p=0.00). The results
demonstrated a relationship between burnout and the safety and quality of patient
care in private critical care units in Gauteng. === Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.
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