A qualitative study on burnout and coping in palliative nurses

Background: With burnout rates highly prevalent in palliative care nurses, it is important to have a holistic understanding of the causes of burnout and strategies both to prevent burnout and to cope with burnout. Aim: To understand the causes of burnout and strategies used to prevent and cope with burnout in palliative care nurses. This would allow the implementation of strategies on a personal level and organisational level to mitigate the effects of burnout. Methods: A thematic analysis to explore palliative care nurses’ experiences and their interpretations. In total, 11 in-depth interviews and one focus group discussion with 19 nurses were conducted. The study participants were recruited from three palliative care units within a health cluster in Singapore and had at least 1 year of experience working in palliative care. Results: Five themes were identified: (a) description of burnout and its attributes; (b) factors that contribute to burnout; (c) triggers that initiate burnout; (d) coping with burnout; and (e) resilience to burnout. The nurses were competent in recognising signs of burnout and understood the use of coping strategies to manage burnout. They were also able to develop resilience to burnout through meaning-making and personal experiences. Significance of results: Helping palliative nurses find a deep purpose in their work builds resilience. Managers, organisation leaders, researchers and peers should look into ways to increase resilience in this group of nurses.