Prevalence and Risk Factors of nurse burnout in intensive care nursing staff

Abstract

Background: Burnout, a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment arising from chronic occupational stress, is reported at particularly high rates among nurses working in the intensive care unit (ICU), where high patient acuity, frequent death and dying, and demanding staffing conditions converge.

Objective: This review synthesizes the published evidence on the prevalence of burnout among ICU nursing staff and the individual, clinical, and organizational risk factors most consistently associated with it.

Methods: We synthesized multicenter cross-sectional surveys, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses addressing burnout prevalence, measurement, risk factors, consequences, and mitigation strategies in ICU nursing populations, including evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Findings: Severe burnout affects roughly one-fifth to one-half of ICU nurses depending on country and definition, with the most consistent risk factors being inadequate staffing, limited scheduling control, poor nurse-physician collaboration, and poorly supported exposure to end-of-life decisions; younger age, less experience, and lower resilience further modify vulnerability, and pandemic-era studies show the same risk factors at higher intensity.

Conclusions: Burnout is a common, largely structurally driven occupational hazard in ICU nursing, and mitigation strategies that address staffing, scheduling autonomy, and collaborative decision-making alongside individual resilience support are best supported by the current evidence.