Staff Burnout in Long-term Care Facilities

Background: A rapidly changing health and long-term care environment characterized by efficiency and cost-containment is resulting in changing roles and responsibilities among all levels of staff who work with seniors in long-term care facilities. More is being asked of all, and there are reports of health-care providers who are overworked, stressed-out and suffering from burnout. Little is known of the burnout experienced by staff in long-term care facilities. We investigated levels of burnout among nursing personnel who provide care to seniors in long-term care facilities in the Ottawa-Carleton Region. Methods: Methods were exploratory and descriptive and employed the use of mail-back questionnaires from a random and proportional sample of 86 registered nurses (RNs), 92 registered practical nurses (RPNs) and 49 health-care aides (HCAs). The Maslach Burnout Inventory was used to gather data about respondents’ perceptions of their level of personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, involvement and depersonalization. Results: Mean scores were highest on measures of personal accomplishment (7.3) and emotional exhaustion (5.7). There were statistically significant differences between HCAs (7.0) and RPNs (5.2) or RNs (5.0) on levels of emotional exhaustion. Mean scores were lowest on measures of depersonalization (4.1) and involvement (5.0). HCAs (5.7) differed significantly from either RPNs (4.8) and RNs (4.6) on level of involvement. Conclusion: Staff burnout does not auger well for the provision of high quality care to residents of long-term care facilities. Administrators should strive to reduce staff’s level of emotional exhaustion and increase their level of personal involvement with residents, to ensure care that is caring and comprehensive.