The role of career counselling in supporting career well-being of nurses

Abstract

The phenomenon of occupational and career burnout in nurses has received recent attention from academia, the media, and health care practitioners. Research surrounding career burnout often adopts a health perspective and focuses on the psychological well-being of nurses. While acknowledging the vital importance of a health perspective, this article contends that the ability to cultivate a sense of career well-being may act as an antidote to the occupational and career burnout in the nursing profession. To examine the relationship between career burnout and career well-being in nurses, the article explores the many ways career counsellors can be of service to clients in the nursing profession, improving clients’ career well-being via the enhancement of effective coping skills. In particular, the phenomenon of career burnout and its related issues and factors in nurses are identified and analysed. Guided by key tenets from career development theoretical approaches, counselling interventions are proposed to address the unique occupational burnout issue in the nursing profession, aiming to further the career well-being of nurses.