Use of Stress Management to Decrease Nurse Burnout

Abstract

The impact of stress man~gement education'on the amount of reported nurse burnout was studied. A quasi-experimental two-group (control and experimental) pretest-posttest design was used. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (Maslacfi and Jackson, 1981) and a Demographic Data Form were used to study eight registered nurses who·registered to attend a J two-hour inservice program entitled "Reducing Your Stress Thr6ugh Self-Management.'' The results of the study indicated ' an increase (although not statistically significant) in reported burnout from the group that attended the workshop. Possibly in the allotted one month time frame, participants gained insight into their burnout, but did not have time to implement ne~ coping skills. A relationship was ·found be- ~tween burnout reported.and the nurse's practice setting, with nurses working in the medical-surgical area report~ng higher burnout than those working ,in the other areas represented. Additiohal study of the variables influencing burnout in nursing and interventions to prevent burnout is recommended.