Burnout, role conflict, job satisfaction and psychosocial health among Hungarian health care staff: a questionnaire survey

Abstract

Background: There is a growing interest in the psychosocial work environment of health care staff since they are at high risk for burnout, role conflict and job dissatisfaction. Burnout, as a type of prolonged response to chronic job-related stressors, has a special significance in health care where staff experience both psychological-emotional and physical stress. Burnout and the other negative aspects of the job of health care staff have major behavioural and health implications.

Objectives: The present study investigated the interrelationships among burnout, role conflict and job satisfaction in a sample of Hungarian health care staff. The study also investigated how these indicators of psychosocial work climate influence respondents' frequency of psychosomatic symptoms.

Design: A questionnaire survey (anonymous questionnaires) has been carried out to detect these interrelationships.

Settings: Two major hospitals in Szeged, Hungary.

Participants: Questionnaires were distributed to 450 health care staff among whom 55.7% were registered nurses. All together, 201 questionnaires were returned and analyzed, giving a response rate of 44.6%.

Methods: Questionnaire contained items on work and health-related information (i.e., burnout, job satisfaction, role conflict, and psychosomatic symptoms) and on some basic sociodemographics. Beyond descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression analyses were computed.

Results: Findings show that emotional exhaustion and depersonalization scores were higher, while scores on personal accomplishment was lower as compared to Canadian, Norwegian or US samples. Burnout, particularly emotional exhaustion (p<.001), was found to be strongly related to job dissatisfaction. Schooling was inversely related to satisfaction with the job (p<.05). While job satisfaction was a negative predictor of each type of burnout subscale (p<.001), role conflict was a factor contributing positively to emotional exhaustion (p<.001) and depersonalization scores (p<.001).

Conclusions: The study results underline the importance of the role of psychosocial work environment and the interrelationships among burnout, role conflict, job satisfaction and psychosomatic health among Hungarian health care staff.