Psychiatry Research EG

Background Hospital settings are a highly challenging work environment because of the increased demands of most of the works assigned to do, changes in the everyday routine of work, unreasonable expectations of patients and their relatives, and serious legal and death problems. Nurses experience stress due to work exhaustion that makes them vulnerable to many psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of burnout syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety in nursing group and their possible risk factors. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 181 nurses working at Al Zahraa University Hospital, Cairo, Egypt; the sociodemographic characteristics and occupational data were collected and Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, Davidson Trauma Scale, Maslach Burnout Inventory, and Proactive Coping Inventory were completed. Results Psychiatric symptoms were prevalent among nurses, 79% were positive for depression and 64.6% were positive for anxiety. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder was 19.9%, while 87.8% of nurses were positive for burnout syndrome and had symptoms for at least one of the 3 types of burnout syndrome: 73.5% for emotional exhaustion, 61.9% for depersonalization, and 68.5% for personal accomplishment. Eighty-six percent of nurses who had post-traumatic stress disorder were also positive for burnout syndrome. ICU nurses had 100% emotional exhaustion symptoms compared with other departments; lack of use of different coping approach towards stressors at work and work experience was risk factors of burnout syndrome. Conclusion Burnout syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety were common in a wide group of nurses; the development of health educational program for nurses about different coping strategies to face stressors and conflicts at work is mandatory.