Relationships among Burnout, Death Anxiety, and Social Support in Hospice and Critical Care Nurses

Abstract

The present study was undertaken to compare the occupational stress, levels of burnout, death anxiety, and the social support of a national sample of 376 hospice and critical care nurses, t tests indicated that critical care nurses reported significantly more occupational stress, showed higher burnout, and experienced more death anxiety than hospice nurses. The two nursing groups differed significantly when the three components of the Maslach Burnout Inventory were compared: hospice nurses reported feeling less emotional exhaustion, utilized the technique of depersonalization less frequently, and experienced a greater sense of personal accomplishment. The two nursing groups did not differ in social support when both the quantity and quality of that construct were examined. Pearson coefficients indicated positive associations between burnout and occupational stress and between burnout and death anxiety, with a negative relationship between burnout and social support.