NURSES' BURNOUT AND ITS PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Abstract

Burnout is one of the most common and significant psychosocial problems in the professional activities of nurses, which has negative consequences for both employee health and patient safety and the functioning of the healthcare system. The scientific literature emphasizes that burnout in nurses is increasingly perceived as a systemic and complex problem, closely related to work organization, emotional work demands, and organizational environment. Therefore, the importance of applying preventive measures is emphasized in order to prevent the spread of burnout and reduce its negative consequences.
The aim of the article is to review the scientific literature on burnout in nurses, its prevalence, causes, and methods of prevention.
Material and methods. An exploratory review of the scientific literature was conducted, examining burnout in nurses, its prevalence, causes, and methods of prevention. Data were collected from 2021-2025. scientific sources available in the databases: National Library of Medicine (Pubmed), Web of Science platform (Clarivate) and Google Scholar search engine. A total of 120 sources were reviewed, of which 39, meeting the selection criteria, were included in the analysis.
Results. The analysis of scientific literature revealed that nurses have high rates of burnout, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The development of burnout is significantly influenced by high workload, unfavorable working conditions, psychological stress, work-life imbalance and external stressors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The literature analysis shows that the most effective prevention of burnout should be based on an integrated approach that includes strengthening individual psychological resources and improving organizational work environment factors.
Conclusions. The majority of nurses experience professional burnout, emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Nurses experience burnout more frequently than other healthcare professionals. Burnout in nurses is most often caused by systemic and work environment factors, particularly high workload, long shifts, staff shortages, an unfavorable psychosocial climate, and insufficient support from managers and colleagues. Burnout is also significantly associated with stress, anxiety, and lack of work-life balance. Effective prevention of burnout must be comprehensive, encompassing individual interventions – stress management, awareness, resilience, and emotional intelligence development, and organizational solutions – workload regulation, supportive leadership, and team support.