Factors Affecting Burnout in Japanese Female Nurses-Comparison of Childless and Non-childless Nurses.

Burnout is a common feature among healthcare professionals. This study investigated the factors affecting burnout of female nurses working in hospitals depending on the presence or absence of children with the aim of preventing burnout among them. A total of 3,758 nurses who worked at 9 city hospitals in Kanagawa prefecture, Japan, were sent the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS; Japanese version) in June 2014. A burnout causal model was examined using structural equation modeling with the nurses divided into childless and non-childless groups. There were 2,047 (childless: 1,119, nonchildless: 928) valid responses. It was found that the childless nurses were in a higher burnout state compared to their nonchildless counterparts. However, there were differences in multiple demographic factors, such as age and years of clinical experience, which affected burnout. A multiple regression analysis revealed that factors related to burnout of all the participants were "Sense of work fulfillment," "Irritation at not being able to attend to personal affairs," "Overtime work," "Will to continue working," and "Own health problems." All factors directly affected burnout in both childless and non-childless groups, and there were no significant differences. Regarding the amount of overtime work, it had a stronger effect on burnout in the nonchildless group, and "Irritation" and "Overtime work," showed a weak positive correlation in the childless group but not in the non-childless group. Hence, in future, it is important to study burnout by analyzing different grouping, considering the characteristics of the various participant attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]