The Relationship between Clinical Supervision and Burnout in the Nurse?s Job ─ an Iranian Study

摘要

Background and Aim: Clinical nursing supervision is one way to support nurses in coping with their working situation and preventing burnout. The aim of this study was to establish the relationship between clinical supervision and levels of reported burnout in nurses in the Iranian state.Material and Methods: This is a descriptive correlational survey design that was performed at the ILAM general hospitals, IR, during the year 2008. The research instruments which were used were the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Manchester Clinical Supervision Scale (MCSS). A sample of 120 registered nurses (RN) was enrolled into the study using a simple random sample method. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations and multiple regressions.Result: Nurses reported moderate levels of effectiveness in clinical supervision in their workplaces, as well as moderate levels of burnout. Analysis showed that younger and male nurses were more likely to report cold negative attitudes towards their clients, as indicated by higher scores on the depersonalization subscale of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Clinical supervision was significantly related to all burnout dimensions, most strongly to emotional exhaustion (r =-0.76, p<0.001) and depersonalization (r =-0.53, p<0.001). Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization were strongly negatively related to trust/rapport subscale (r =-0.58, P<0.001; r= - 0.42, p<0.001 respectively) and supervisor advice/support subscale (r = -0.52, P <0.001; r = - 0.40, p<0.001 respectively). Personal accomplishment was strongly positively related to supervisor advice/support subscale (r = 0.37, p<0.05). Also, there were significant correlations between the all MCSS and the all MBI subscales (p<0.001, p<0.05)Discussion and Conclusion: Higher levels of clinical supervision were associated with lower levels of burnout .These findings suggest that if clinical supervision is effective, then nurses are likely to report lower levels of burnout. Further research is required to determine the long-term benefits of implementing clinical supervision, and to determine which other factors have an influence on levels of burnout for nurses. These findings have important implications for nursing education administrators.