TITLE:
Exploring Nurses’ Burnout in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a Municipal Hospital: Application of the Job Demand and Resource Theory
AUTHORS:
Sheena Adu-Assiamah, Patricia Ama Anima Kwapong
KEYWORDS:
Nurses, Burnout, Wellbeing, Neonate, NICU, Job Demand
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.12 No.5,
May
31,
2025
ABSTRACT: Professional nurses play a key role in the care of sick neonates and provide quality care to the patients and their families. Nurses working in low resource settings are stressed by heavy workload and limited resources to render holistic care to babies admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The study explored work-related burnout and nursing care experiences of professional nurses working in a NICU of a municipal hospital in the Bono East Region of Ghana. The study applied qualitative explorative descriptive design which was guided by the job-demand and resource theory. Data saturation was attained with fifteen participants who were purposively recruited for the study. A semi structured interview guide and participants’ observations were used to gather information from participants. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim then analyzed using Thematic Content Analysis. The study revealed that nurses had both positive and negative work experiences, with a predominance of negative job demand experience and burnout. Burnout in the NICU usually presents in the form of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Positive experiences in team work and job satisfaction were gained from caring for sick newborns. The study revealed personal resource like intrinsic motivation, coping style, self-efficacy and resilience motivated nurses. However, the nurses expressed poor coping in management of burnout associated with work. The JD-R theory facilitated gaining responses from the participants that highlighted various coping strategies when overwhelmed with work or burnout. Participants strategies to manage burnout included team support, supportive unit leadership and family support. Nurses identified organizational policies, heavy workload, lack of extrinsic motivation, equipment and emotional engagement as factors contributing to their job demand and burnout experience. The study proposes broad interventions encompassing both individual and organizational strategies to curtail nurses’ burnout. The study concluded that nurses working in acute care settings need to be trained in self-care and health promotion initiative that will improve their wellbeing.