A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SELF-REPORTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND BURNOUT AMONG HOSPITAL-EMPLOYED STAFF NURSES

Burnout is a term that has been used to describe a used up feeling due emotional exhaustion, a decreased sense of personal accomplishment, and an attitude of depersonalization toward recipients of care and co-workers. Maintenance of health and well-being has a positive impact on the negative effects of stress. Physical activity contributes to optimum fitness as well as dissipating the physiological by-products and psychological manifestations of stress. The problem that inspired this study stemmed from the potential vulnerability of nurses to burnout due to stresses inherent in the profession. The investigator observed that nurses who exhibited signs and symptoms of burnout also seemed to have a decreased level of physical activity. Conversely, those nurses who appeared to have a higher level of physical activity seemed to exhibit fewer signs and symptoms of stress. The purpose of this descriptive study was to quantify individual levels of physical activity among a group of female, full-time, hospital-employed staff nurses and to compare those levels with the subjects' levels of burnout. The study was designed to examine the question: "Is there an association between hospital-employed staff nurses' self-reported levels of physical activity and the levels of their burnout?" A physical activity questionnaire, a human services survey, and a demographic information sheet were sent to 207 female registered staff nurses who worked full-time at a medium-size midwestern hospital. Thirty-three (15.9% of the total sample) returned the survey items. The scores of low, moderate, and high burnout and the scores of low and high physical activity were compared using the chi square. The demographic data, which included the burnout level, and self-reported activity level, were compiled and grouped in tables for examination. The results of the analysis showed no significant difference among the groups of those who experienced burnout and their level of physical activity. These statistical results were primarily attributed to the small sample size, even though the largest group in the raw data was comprised of those who experienced a moderate to high level of burnout and were considered physically inactive. The investigator concluded that there was no association between this sample of nurses' self-reported levels of physical activity and their levels of burnout. The generalizability of this conclusion to the population of hospital-employed female staff nurses was limited by sample size and requires further study to confirm or refute this lack of association.

Author dc:creator

• Hartley, Christine A.

Statement dc:rights

• This item is protected by copyright and unless otherwise specified the copyright of this thesis/dissertation is held by the author.

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1808/37778

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/37778