GLOBAL PREVALENCE OF BURNOUT IN NURSES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Abstract

Aims and Objectives: To examine the global prevalence of burnout among nurses and the effects of geographic location and specialty on burnout prevalence in nurses. Background: Amongst healthcare workers, nurses are known to struggle with burnout the most, carrying serious consequences for the patients, other healthcare professionals and the healthcare organisation. Evidence has suggested that burnout in nurses is high across specialties and countries, but no meta-analysis have been performed to investigate the prevalence of nursing burnout on a global scale. Methods: Literature search was conducted in December 2018 on PubMed, Embase, CENTRAL, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, and Proquest Theses and Dissertations, based on the search concepts: ‘burnout’, ‘nurses’ and ‘prevalence’. Risk of bias was assessed using an adaptation of a recently developed tool specific for prevalence studies. Meta-analyses were performed with the Review Manager software. Cochrane’s Q-statistic and I² was used to assess heterogeneity. Subgroup analyses was also conducted. Results: A total of 113 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included for metaanalysis. The overall sample consisted of 45,539 nurses from six regions and multiple specialties. The burnout measurement tools utilised across the studies include MBI-HSS, MBI-GS, ProQOL, CBI, COPSOQ, OLBI, etc. An overall pooled prevalence of burnout among nurses was reported to be 17.48% high burnout and 56.51% moderate to high burnout. Significant differences were noted between subgroups of geographical regions, specialties and type of burnout measurement tool used. Sub-Saharan African and Paediatric nurses had the highest prevalence rates of burnout. Geriatric care alongside Europe and Central Asian nurses had the lowest burnout prevalence rates. Implications and conclusions: The findings suggest that nurses have high prevalence of burnout warranting attention and implementation. This serves as an impetus for intervention studies and policy change to improve nurses’ work conditions.