title: Comparative Study of Job Burnout Among Critical Care Nurses With Fixed and Rotating Shift Schedules.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nurses, as health care providers, are insurmountably obliged to the practice of shift work. Literature has reported shift working as one of the inducing factors of burnout. Despite numerous studies in this area, there are inconsistencies on the relationship between shift working and burnout among nurses, especially in those who work in critical care settings.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to compare the occupational burnout in critical care nurses with and without fixed shift schedules.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this comparative study, 130 nurses with rotating shift schedule and 130 nurses with fixed shift schedule from six university hospitals were selected using stratified random sampling. Maslach burnout inventory was used for data collection. Independent samples t-test, chi-square and one-way ANOVA tests were used to analyze the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the participants were females (62.7%), aged between 22 - 29 years (38.5%), married (59.2%), and had a bachelor degree (86.9%). The mean score of emotional exhaustion was significantly higher in nurses with fixed shift schedules (P < 0.001). However, no significant difference was found between the mean scores of the two groups in the personal accomplishment and depersonalization subscales (P > 0.05). Moreover, no significant difference was found in burnout mean scores between nurses with fixed morning and fixed night shifts (P > 0.05). The means of the emotional exhaustion subscale were significantly different in nurses with different characteristics (P < 0.05) except the gender and working unit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As a result of this study, it was found that critical care nurses with fixed shift schedules display more burnout in emotional exhaustion dimension, compared to those working with rotating shift schedules.
authors.affiliation: Intensive Care Unit, AL Zahra University Hospital, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shamali
authors.affiliation: Department of Adult Health Nursing, Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shahriari
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Atye
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Babaii
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abbasinia
keywords: Burnout; Critical Care; Nurses; Shift Work