Prevalence and levels of burnout in nursing students: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Abstract

Aim The aim of this study was to analyze burnout levels and prevalence in nursing students and to estimate prevalence levels with meta-analyses. Background Nurses are one of the healthcare professionals most affect by burnout, but nursing students, during their studies, can also suffer burnout. Design a systematic review with meta-analysis was performed. Methods The search equation used in Pubmed, CINAHL and Scopus databases was “burnout AND nursing students”. Quantitative primary studies including information about burnout, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, or personal accomplishment in nursing students were included. Four meta-analysis were performed. Results the sample was of n = 34 studies, with n = 15 studies being included in the meta-analysis with n = 2744 nursing students. Burnout prevalence was 19% (95% CI 11–28%). Regarding burnout dimensions, the most affected was high emotional exhaustion with a prevalence of 41%(95% CI 23–61%; n = 2222) followed by 27% low personal accomplishment(95% CI 9–49%; n = 2096), 25% high depersonalization (95% CI 15–36%; n = 2096). Conclusions Prevalence of burnout and its dimensions vary from 19% to 41%, being emotional exhaustion the main problem in nursing students. This problem may affect their future as nursing professionals, and it would be of important to prevent and to treat burnout at university levels.