Burnout in Nurses at a Referral Hospital in Western Kenya

Prolonged occupational stress is associated with burnout. Nurses are especially vulnerable to burnout. However, the frequency and factors that promote burnout in Kenya Nurses have not been conclusively. 379 (198 female and 181 male) nurses working in a referral hospital in Western Kenya were recruited to participate in this study. Bio-demographic data including the age, gender, marital status, work experience and religion of the participants was obtained using a questionnaire. In addition, The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) that examines the three domains of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced personal accomplishment were used to assess the frequency of burnout. In addition, the relative contribution of factors promoting burnout was also examined. Most of the respondents were youthful; that is within the 25-35 age bracket (46%, n=174) whereas only 4%, n=15 of the respondents were above 55 years. In addition, most of the nurses were veterans with more than 6 years working experience. Furthermore, respondents experienced high levels of emotional exhaustion and diminished personal accomplishment ranging 21-40%. In addition, respondents also experienced moderate levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and diminished personal accomplishment (57-85%). Long working hours significantly contributed to burnout in female nurses compared to male nurses (46 vs. 24; P<0.05, for female vs. male nurses respectively. In addition, there were gender differences in factors promoting burnout that is: high motivation, low pay, work overload and lack of professional support. However, these differences were not statistically significant. In conclusion, nurses experienced moderate levels of burnout. A combination of overload and low pay is fueling burnout nurses.