Nurse Burnout Tied to Lower Quality of Care

TUESDAY, Nov. 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Nurse burnout is associated with lower health care quality, worse patient safety, and lower patient satisfaction, according to a review published online Nov. 5 in JAMA Network Open.

Lambert Zixin Li, from Stanford University in California, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to evaluate the magnitude and moderators of the association between nurse burnout and patient safety, patient satisfaction, and quality of care.

Based on 85 studies (288,581 nurses), the researchers found that nurse burnout was associated with a lower safety climate or culture; lower safety grade; more frequent nosocomial infections, patient falls, medication errors, adverse events, or patient safety incidents; and missed care or care left undone. There was no association with the frequency of pressure ulcers or mortality rate. Nurse burnout was also associated with lower patient satisfaction ratings. However, nurse burnout was not associated with the frequencies of patient complaints or patient abuse. Lastly, nurse burnout was associated with lower nurse-assessed quality of care. The associations were similar across nurses’ age, sex, work experience, and geography, and persisted over time. The association with patient safety outcomes was smaller for the low personal accomplishment subcomponent of burnout compared with emotional exhaustion or depersonalization.

“These findings suggest that systems-level interventions for nurse burnout may improve patient outcomes,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text