Purpose: To explore satisfaction and burnout of nurses working in neurology wards in Shanghai, China.
Design: A descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire survey.
Methods: Three hundred and eighty-seven nurses from 23 neurology wards in 21 tertiary general hospitals were recruited using cluster sampling. The valid response rate was 94.83%.
Findings: Nurse satisfaction with the salary/wages, the job and the nurse staffing level were 21.79%, 37.33%, and 40.87%. A high nurse burnout rate was found as: emotional exhaustion (EE) ≥ 27 (89.92%); depersonalization (DP) ≥ 10 (92.64%); and reduced personal accomplishment (PA)≤ 33 (79.29%).
Conclusions: Most nurses in the neurology wards were dissatisfied and had high levels of burnout. Experienced, intermediate and senior nurses were at the highest risk for job turnover.
Clinical relevance: Nurse administrators should take effective measures to increase nurse satisfaction and decrease burnout to retain experienced nurses and keep the stability of nursing workforce.
Keywords: Burnout; China; Maslach Burnout Inventory; neurology ward; nurses; questionnaire survey; satisfaction.
© 2014 Association of Rehabilitation Nurses.