A burnout model for health care givers working with the critically ill

This study assessed how contro! and escape coping strategies contribute to the development or avoidance of burnout in nurses who work with the critically/ terminally ill This study was also a component of an evaluation project at the Camp Hall Halifax Infirmary Hospital. A total of 142 questionnaire packages were sent to three groups of nurses (long-term, palliative care and psychiatric) at the Camp Hill/ Halifax Infirmary Hospital. All of the nurses (n = 10) on the palliative care unit were individually interviewed because additional information was required for a more comprehensive evaluation of this unit. The subset of palliative care nurses was then compared to the entire group. The Leiter (1988) Model of Burnout was used as the theoretical model predicting burnout. Escape coping Strategies were hypothesized to be positively correlated with burnout, and control coping strategies were hypothesized to be negatively correlated with burnout. Regression analysis confirmed that burnout is a function of coping patterns and much of the model was supported. The mode! predicting burnout was revised for this particular sample of nurses because the two coping strategies are mediated through emotional exhaustion. This sample of nurses was not suffering from burnout. The relationships among the variables for the palliative care nurses were similar to those found in the over all analysis. Implications of these findings for other health care professionals were presented and suggestions for further research were made.