Factors Associated With Burnout in Psychiatric Nurses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
AI Summary
Psychological resources, including compassion satisfaction, emotional intelligence and psychological resilience, are strongly negatively associated with burnout in psychiatric nurses.
Occupational risk factors, notably job stress, secondary traumatic stress and workplace violence, show significant positive associations with burnout.
Evidence limited by substantial heterogeneity and predominantly observational design, so associations are not causal and findings require cautious interpretation and further evaluation.
AIM: To quantitatively synthesize factors associated with burnout among psychiatric nurses.
BACKGROUND: Psychiatric nurses are at high risk of burnout due to chronic occupational stress, which may compromise their well-being and care quality. A quantitative synthesis of associated factors is needed.
EVALUATION: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycINFO, CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang were searched from inception to October 1, 2026. Study quality was assessed using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality checklist and Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Meta-analyses were conducted using Stata 18.0.
KEY ISSUES: Twenty-two studies involving 4735 participants were included. Day shifts were associated with lower burnout (SMD = -0.58), with substantial heterogeneity. Compassion satisfaction (Fisher’s z = -0.57; r = -0.52), emotional intelligence (Fisher’s z = -0.43; r = -0.41), and psychological resilience (Fisher’s z = -0.58; r = -0.52) were negatively associated with burnout. Job stress (Fisher’s z = 0.36; r = 0.35), secondary traumatic stress (Fisher’s z = 0.49; r = 0.45), and workplace violence (Fisher’s z = 0.62; r = 0.55) were positively associated. No significant pooled associations were found for sex, marital status, educational level, or anxiety.
CONCLUSIONS: Burnout among psychiatric nurses is associated with multiple psychological and occupational factors. Findings warrant cautious interpretation because of substantial heterogeneity and limited evidence for some factors; the predominantly observational evidence does not establish causality.
IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Managers may assess workplace stressors, occupational safety, secondary traumatic stress, and psychological resources when identifying staff support needs. Context-specific support strategies may be explored, but their feasibility and effectiveness require further evaluation.
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