Korean Journal of Nephrology 1989;8(4):53-56.

투석실 간호사의 Burnout

이희발 , 한동철 , 정희연

Abstract

Questionnaires were sent out to dialysis nurses throughout the country to investigate the current status of burnout among dialysis nurses in Korea. Of 155 nurses who responded 55 (37.4%) has had thoughts of leaving the dialysis unit. Significantly more nurses who were assigned to the dialysis unit (45.89%) than those who volunteered for the job (27.3%) consid- ered leaving the unit (p<0.05). The sources of the stress included selfish attitudes of the patients (58.7%), anxiety associated with the responsibility (49.09%), helplessness toward the inevitable death of the patients (43.9%), overwork (36.89%), and conflicts among fellow nurses (or between nurses and physicians) (18.0%.). More nurses who were assigned felt that they were overworked than those who volunteered for the job (44.69. VS 28.89p, p < 0.05). Reactions to the stresses at work included guilt (43. 9%), uneasiness toward responsibility (38.1%'), anxiety (36.8%), irritability (25.8%), boredom (22.6%), hopeless- ness (14.8%), indifference (14.2%.), helplessness (11.0%) and changes in the menstural habits (49.4%). Nurses who worked in the dialysis unit for more than 3 years felt anxiety and helplessness less often and irribability more often than those who worked for less than 1 year. Dialysis nurses coped with the stresses by activities outside the unit, by communicating with fellow nurses or by other means. Ten percent of the nurses reported that no solutions were found. Burnout among dialysis nurses apperas to be a real problem and measures to prevent and treat the problem are urgently needed.