Introduction:

There has been growing evidence that stress and burnout at work have undesirable effects not only on the worker but also on the organizations (Aiken et al. 2002a, 2002b; Felton 1998). It is perceived more among nursing professionals because of the specific roles and responsibilities, increased workload, dealing with high-risk cases, emotional aspects of patient care and other factors inherent in the nature of work.

Objective:

This article is developed with the broad objective to determine the level of burnout among the nursing professionals with the following specific objectives: To determine the level of burnout and to determine the work-related factors associated with burnout among nursing professionals in selected tertiary care hospitals of Delhi.

Methodology:

This descriptive study was carried out on a total of 200 staff nurses. One hundred staff nurses from each of the two randomly selected tertiary care hospitals in New Delhi were taken, comprising 25 staff nurses from each of the four speciality wards (Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Paediatrics). Tools used were socio-demographic tool, work profile tool and standardized Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) tool to measure burnout. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.

Results:

Overall, the nurses reported a low mean score for emotional exhaustion (14.39 ± 6.87) and depersonalization (4.84 ± 3.34), and an average score (34.72 ± 6.33) for personal accomplishment. Work profile variables found to be associated with burnout were ‘staff shortage with respect to nurse–patient ratio’, ‘number of night duties’, ‘demands of patient’ attendants’, ‘duty roster’, ‘death/critical condition of a patient’, ‘conflicts at work place’, study leave’ and ‘category of employment (regular/contractual)’.

Conclusions and Recommendations:

Though the nurses, in the present study, did not show very high levels of burnout, nonetheless, there was noted a significant association of burnout with certain work profile and organizational factors. On this ground, one can conclude that a lot of reforms are required at the organizational and work environmental levels. On the basis of these findings and conclusions formed, the authors suggest certain recommendations, in which reforms for human resource (HR) for health form a prominent part.