Nurses' burnout and associated risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aims To examine the nurses' burnout and associated risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design We followed the Cochrane criteria and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines for this systematic review and meta-analysis. Data Sources PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Cochrane COVID-19 registry, CINAHL and pre-print services (medR chi iv and PsyArXiv) were searched from January 1 to November 15, 2020 and we removed duplicates. Review Methods We applied a random effect model to estimate pooled effects since the heterogeneity between results was very high. Results Sixteen studies, including 18,935 nurses met the inclusion criteria. The overall prevalence of emotional exhaustion was 34.1%, of depersonalization was 12.6% and of lack of personal accomplishment was 15.2%. The main risk factors that increased nurses' burnout were the following: younger age, decreased social support, low family and colleagues readiness to cope with COVID-19 outbreak, increased perceived threat of Covid-19, longer working time in quarantine areas, working in a high-risk environment, working in hospitals with inadequate and insufficient material and human resources, increased workload and lower level of specialized training regarding COVID-19. Conclusion Nurses experience high levels of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, while several sociodemographic, social and occupational factors affect this burnout. Impact We found that burnout among nurses is a crucial issue during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is an urgent need to prepare nurses to cope better with COVID-19 pandemic. Identification of risk factors for burnout could be a significant weapon giving nurses and health care systems the ability to response in a better way against the following COVID-19 waves in the near future.

Automated summary

Nurses experience high levels of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, with factors such as age, social support, and work environment affecting burnout. There is an urgent need to prepare nurses to better cope with COVID-19 and prevent burnout. Identifying risk factors for burnout can help nurses and healthcare systems respond more effectively to future waves of COVID-19.