Nurse Staffing and Burnout: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Nurses are the primary providers of hospital based care and make up the largest portion of health care professionals in the United States. The phenomenon of nurse burnout affects nurses both domestically and internationally causing researchers to investigate factors potentially related to nurse burnout including nurse staffing. The purpose of this review is to synthesize evidence from sixteen surveys regarding the relationship between nurse staffing, nurse burnout, and factors that contribute to nurse burnout. The research does not indicate an optimal patient-nurse ratio appropriate for all nurses. However, the evidence does suggest that nurse perception of staffing may be a more accurate way to assess the effect the patient-nurse ratio has on nurses' experience of burnout. Future research should focus on nurses' perception of staffing assignments and should include a research design focused on in depth interview as the current data is saturated with surveys.