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Winter 2011/12 | Vol 15 No 2

Research update

Mark de la Hey

Nurse burnout linked to workplace annoyance

Workplace annoyance can contribute to emotional exhaustion and burnout among nurses, whereas resilience can have a protective effect, according to new research from La Rioja University in Logroño, Spain. Researchers defined this annoyance as “a gradual state of psychological wear and tear or exhaustion that is not resolved by daily rest” and as “the sense of uncertainty at work, including reactions of insecurity, alertness and inconvenience.” The study’s findings are based on the responses of 200 nurses in northern Spain to questionnaires examining emotional annoyance, resilience, professional efficiency and cynicism. The results showed that cynicism and emotional annoyance contribute to the development of emotional exhaustion. Resilience and professional efficiency, on the other hand, were negatively correlated with the development of emotional exhaustion, implying that they have a protective effect. The authors see their results as supporting the theses of positive psychology which state that awareness of one’s strengths and weaknesses and of the mechanisms needed to deal successfully with adverse situations can provide protection against emotional exhaustion. In light of these results, they recommend that efforts be made “to empower nurses and promote well-being through free training programmes and workshops within the health system.” These workshops should train nurses to recognize and control factors that lead to emotional exhaustion, develop coping skills, exchange positive feedback with colleagues and supervisors and manage conflict and aggression.

International Nursing Review, September 19, 2011, published online, doi: 10.1111/j.1466-7657.2011.00927.x. Guadalupe Manzano Garcia and Juan Carlos Ayala Calvo, Department of Human Sciences and Education, La Rioja University, Logroño, Spain.