Suicidality, resilience and burnout in a population of oncology nurses

Abstract Oncology care gives employees the opportunity to care for people during the most difficult periods of their lives, which can affect the psychological well-being of nurses in different domains. The aim of this work is to examine to which extent resilience and professional burnout influence the occurrence of suicidality in oncology nurses and determine the differences compared to other populations. The study included a total of 75 oncology nurses, as well as three control groups: nurses of various specialities, administrative workers and nursing students. The respondents filled out the Serbian version of the RASS-Suicidality Assessment Scale, the Serbian version of the Brief Resilience Scale-BRS, and the Maslach Inventory for Professional Burnout. The observed variables were compared by Spearman's Rho correlation. In the population of oncology nurses and technicians, resilience and suicidality are negatively correlated with each other (r = -0.375, p = 0.001). In the same population, professional burnout and suicidality are not correlated, but the correlation was significant in all other control groups. Our research established the importance of strengthening the resilience of employees in the health sector, through various programs and trainings. Working professionals are more often forced to develop individual protective strategies and incorporate them into daily practice.