Turkish nurses' psychological resilience and burnout levels during the COVID-19 pandemic: A correlational study

AimsTo investigate the relationship between the psychological resilience and burnout of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients and to determine the factors that affect their psychological resilience and burnout.BackgroundIn pandemic diseases such as COVID-19, nurses experience burnout due to long working hours, decreased quality of life and anxiety/fear about their own/families' health. Psychological resilience helps to control burnout in nurses and prevent the development of a global nurse shortage.DesignThis was a descriptive, correlational study.MethodsThe sample of this study included 201 nurses in a Training and Research Hospital. The study used the Brief Resilience Scale and the Burnout Measure Short Version. Data were collected between 4 May and 1 June 2020. Statistical analysis was made with Pearson/Spearman, independent sample t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test.ResultsNurses reported moderate burnout and psychological resilience, with a negative and highly significant correlation between psychological resilience and burnout levels.ConclusionsIn order to increase the quality of patient care/treatment, nurse managers need to reduce nurses' burnout and increase their psychological resilience. Nurses are recommended to adopt a healthy lifestyle, organize training programmes and implement psychological resilience interventions to prevent sleep disorders. Giving nurses the tools to understand what they need to manage within their locus of control will allow them to find a new sense of resilience, preventing potential burnout. Summary statementWhat is already known about this topic? Epidemics and pandemics cause many negative effects on the individual/society in terms of physical, psychological, social and economic aspects. During epidemic and pandemic, nurses experience burnout caused by the accumulation of professional stress. Nurses with high levels of psychological resilience experience less psychological distress such as anxiety, fear, burnout, sensory and psychosocial problems.What this paper adds? Nurses experienced moderate burnout and resilience during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. A negative correlation was found between nurses' burnout and psychological resilience. The burnout levels of nurses who were not college graduates, who were dissatisfied with their jobs and who intended to leave their jobs were found to be high.The implications of this paper: Nurses were vulnerable to burnout due to increased workloads in the COVID-19 crisis, increased shifts and the fear of infecting themselves and their families. It is necessary to increase the psychological resilience of nurses in order to provide the highest level of care to patients with COVID-19. Nurse manager should focus on reducing burnout in their nursing teams by supporting the postgraduate education of nurses and reducing their workload.