The relationship between emotional intelligence and the occurrence of burnout syndrome in nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Uvod: Prodor SARS-CoV-2 infekcije utjecao je kako na globalno gospodarsko i ekonomiju tako i na cjelokupni zdravstveni sustav. Povećan opseg posla uzrok je povećanju stresa kod velikog broja, već ionako preopterećenog medicinskog osoblja. Strah, frustracija, narušeni međuljudski odnosi, nedostatak slobodnog vremena i resursa samo su neki od široke lepeze faktora koji povećavaju frekventnost pojave sindroma sagorijevanja među medicinskim sestrama. Razvijena empatija, socijalne vještine, samomotivacija, samokontrola i samosvijest smatraju se najvažnijim komponentama EI koje imaju značajan utjecaj na redukciju stresora novonastale situacije. Time pomažu u adekvatnom nošenju s profesionalnim stresom te prevenciji nastanka sindroma sagorijevanja. Cilj: Ispitati međuodnos aspekata emocionalne inteligencije i sindroma sagorijevanja kod medicinskih sestara RH tijekom SARS-CoV-2 pandemije. Metode: Istraživanje je provedeno u travnju 2021. godine putem društvenih mreža u obliku Google Forms upitnika, a u njemu je anonimno i dobrovoljno sudjelovalo 419 medicinskih sestara s prostora RH. Prikupljeni podaci su kodirani i analizirani u statističkom programu SPSS 23 od IBM-a. Analizirani su deskriptivni podatci upitnika dok su hipoteze za razlike testirane Mann Whitney U testom i analizom varijance te Pearsonovom korelacijom za provjeru povezanosti. Zaključak: Uz dobivene statistički značajne razlike u odnosu na dob, spol i obrazovanje, podaci istraživanja ukazuju kako medicinske sestre s većom razinom opće emocionalne kompetentnosti pokazuju manju razinu profesionalnog sagorijevanja za vrijeme pandemije. Time je dokazana važnost EI u sestrinskoj profesiji, a osobito u situaciji prodora virusa koji znatno povećava razinu stresa te uvjetuje frekventniji nastanak sindroma sagorijevanja. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju višu razinu EI kod obrazovanijih pojedinacašto govori kako razvoj EI medicinskih sestara kroz edukaciju može djelovati pozitivno na pacijente te cjelokupni zdravstveni sustav koji dobiva efikasnije i zadovoljnije djelatnike.Introduction: The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has affected both the global economy and the healthcare system as a whole. The increased workload brought about rising stress levels among the already overburdened healthcare workers. Fear, frustration, damaged interpersonal relations, a lack of free time and staff shortage are just some of many factors that facilitate the occurrence of the burnout syndrome among nurses. Developed empathy, social skills, self-encouragement, self-control and selfawareness are considered as the pillars of EI that have a significant influence on reducing stressors related to new circumstances. As such, they help individuals cope with work-related stress and prevent the burnout syndrome. Goal: To investigate the relationship between various aspects of emotional intelligence and the burnout syndrome in nurses in the Republic of Croatia during the SARS-CoV- 2 pandemic. Methods: The research was conducted in April 2021 via social networks in the form of an anonymous and voluntary Google Forms survey. 419 nurses working in Croatia took part in the survey. The collected data was coded and analyzed in SPSS 23, software developed by IBM. Descriptive data collected in the survey was analyzed, while the hypotheses were tested using the Mann-Whitney U test and variance analysis, as well as Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Conclusion: Apart from statistically significant differences regarding age, sex, and education, the research data has shown that nurses with higher levels of general emotional competence have exhibited lower levels of work-related burnout during the pandemic. This proves the importance of EI for nurses, particularly in the time of a viral pandemic, which contributes to higher levels of stress and in turn leads to more frequent occurrence of the burnout syndrome. The results of our research have shown that more educated individuals exhibit higher levels of EI. This points to how education can help develop EI in nurses and have a positive effect on patients and the healthcare system as a whole, whose medical professionals in turn become more efficient and content