The Relationship Between Burnout and Ethical Climate Perceptions of Nursing Staff Working in a University Hospital

Abstract

INTRODUCTION[|]This research was conducted in order to detect the relevance between 'burnout' and 'ethical climate perceptions' of nursing staff in a university hospital.[¤]METHODS[|]This cross-sectional correlation study was carried out in a medium size university hospital between March 2019 and July 2019.Participants of this descriptive correlational study were 241 nurses working in a university hospital. Socio-demographic data form, Ethical Climate Questionnaire and Maslach Burnout Inventory were used to gather data for determining correlations.[¤]RESULTS[|]It was detected that the study group had an average level of ethical climate perception. Work-place and willingness to prefer profession were partially effective on ethical climate perceptions of the staff nurses. A partial correlation was found between ethical climate and burnout.[¤]DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION[|]Our study group has an average level of ethical climate perception. Our results support the hypothesis that there may be a relationship between ethical climate perceptions and burnout each of which is known to deteriorate nursing care quality and patient safety. We suggest preventive interventions such as training, setting ethics based organizational rules or creating supportive practice environments in terms of ethics to generate better ethical climate in the institutions.[¤]

Keywords

• burnout
• ethical climate
• perceptions
• staff nurses