Interventions to reduce burnout among clinical nurses: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Sporadic evidence exists for burnout interventions in terms of types, dosage, duration, and assessment of burnout among clinical nurses. This study aimed to evaluate burnout interventions for clinical nurses. Seven English databases and two Korean databases were searched to retrieve intervention studies on burnout and its dimensions between 2011 and 2020.check Thirty articles were included in the systematic review, 24 of them for meta-analysis. Face-to-face mindfulness group intervention was the most common intervention approach. When burnout was measured as a single concept, interventions were found to alleviate burnout when measured by the ProQoL (n = 8, standardized mean difference [SMD] = − 0.654, confidence interval [CI] =  − 1.584, 0.277, p < 0.01, I² = 94.8%) and the MBI (n = 5, SMD = − 0.707, CI = − 1.829, 0.414, p < 0.01, I² = 87.5%). The meta-analysis of 11 articles that viewed burnout as three dimensions revealed that interventions could reduce emotional exhaustion (SMD = − 0.752, CI = − 1.044, − 0.460, p < 0.01, I² = 68.3%) and depersonalization (SMD = − 0.822, CI = − 1.088, − 0.557, p < 0.01, I² = 60.0%) but could not improve low personal accomplishment. Clinical nurses' burnout can be alleviated through interventions. Evidence supported reducing emotional exhaustion and depersonalization but did not support low personal accomplishment.