Burnout in Palliative Care Nurses, Prevalence and Risk Factors: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Palliative care nurses are exposed to hard situations, death, and duel feelings in their daily practice. These, and other work stressors, can favor burnout development. Thus, it is important to analyze the prevalence and risk factors of burnout in palliative care nurses and estimate its prevalence. A systematic review and meta-analysis was done with quantitative primary studies. n = 15 studies were included with n = 6 studies including information for the meta-analysis. The meta-analytic prevalence estimation of emotional exhaustion was 24% (95% CI 16–34%), for depersonalization was 30% (95% CI 18–44%) and for low personal accomplishment was 28% with a sample of n = 693 palliative care nurses. The main variables related with burnout are occupational variables followed by psychological variables. Some interventions to improve working conditions of palliative care nurses should be implemented to reduce burnout.