Role of Stress and Age on Psychological Burnout among Nurses

Abstract

The study investigated the role of stress and age in psychological burnout among nurses. One hundred and sixty (160) nurses from the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) and Mother of Christ Specialist Hospital (MCSH), both in Enugu urban, were selected for the study. Their ages ranged between 28 and 60 years. Survey design was employed. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was used to measure the level of burnout while Nursing Stress Scale (NSS) measured the level of stress. Two hypotheses were tested: there would be no statistically significant difference between nurses with high level of stress and nurses with low level of stress in their report of burnout; and there would be no statistically significant difference between younger and older nurses in their report of burnout. Results of analysis of variance with unequal sample sizes showed that young nurses reported higher level of burnout than old nurses: F(1, 156) = 6. 02, p <. 01. The findings were discussed.