Prediction of nursing burnout—a scoping review of the literature from 1970 to 2021

AbstractAbstractBurnout is an occupational syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress not appropriately managed. In nursing, burnout has been associated with adverse job characteristics (e.g., high responsibility for others, heavy workload, lack of infrastructure), with negative outcomes for the individual, the organization, and the recipients of care. The objective of this review is to describe the approaches used to predict burnout of practicing nurses to allow health care organizations to proactively address nursing burnout. We searched Scopus and PubMed for publications containing either in their title or abstract the terms “nurs*”, “burnout”, and “predict*” from 1970 to 2021. Our multi-phase screening process resulted in 312 papers. A gap in existing research relates to the primary method all studies but one used to capture data—questionnaires. Burnout is essentially a cumulative condition, and questionnaires identify the damage reactively, after burnout is experienced, by placing an additional demand on the individual, i.e., they further increase workload. Methods, ideally requiring minimal effort, to predict, not detect, burnout are needed so that individuals and organizations can take measures to prevent, reduce, and ultimately eliminate burnout among nurses and other clinicians.Keywords: Burnout predictionnursingsociotechnical systemwork design AcknowledgmentsWe thank Alexandra Chronopoulou for the valuable insights about the statistical methods used in the studies we reviewed. We also thank Elisandro Cabada, a librarian associated with both the medical and engineering schools, who helped us validate our search strategy. We also deeply appreciate Adviye Irem Yuceel, who helped us to retrieve the articles included in this review. Lastly, we acknowledge the original caretakers of the land where we conducted this study: the Patwin, Miwok, Duwamish, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Piankashaw, Wea, Miami, Mascoutin, Odawa, Sauk, Mesquaki, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Chickasaw tribes and nations.Consent and approval statementThis study does not qualify as human subjects research. Therefore, it was not reviewed by an Institutional Review Board.Disclosure of interestThe authors report no conflict of interest.Additional informationFundingNo specific funding was received for this work.