JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

As the main backbone of the healthcare delivery service, nurses experience high levels of stress and emotional exhaustion due to their heavy workload and demanding work environment. Constant exposure to such work stressors can predispose them to burnout and potentially cause adverse effects on patient care. Addressing nurses’ burnout is an ongoing process that requires a multifaceted approach, requiring both personal and organizational strategies, with the former focusing on improving individual resilience and coping skills and the latter targeting systemic workplace issues. However, personal interventions are often favored as they are easier to implement, provide immediate benefits, and empower healthcare workers by offering tools for stress management and resilience. Prioritising, developing, and implementing evidence-based interventions to address burnout among nurses is crucial to combat occupational stress and burnout. One of the main personal-directed intervention strategies focused on person-directed psychoeducation, a proactive step to equip nurses with the knowledge and skills to manage stressors to safeguard their well-being and ensure the delivery of high-quality patient care.

Objective:

This protocol proposes a systematic review that aims to identify and assess the effectiveness of person-directed psychoeducational interventions for nurses globally. It seeks to pinpoint effective interventions that can be implemented to manage nurses’ burnout and support their mental health.

Methods:

This systematic review will follow the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) guidelines. Five electronic databases (PubMed-MEDLINE, EBSCOhost, Ovid MEDLINE, Scopus, and ScienceDirect) will be searched for studies published between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2023. The search will encompass three key concepts: “nurses,” “burnout intervention,” and “burnout.” Pre-defined eligibility criteria will be followed during screening by the reviewers. Data will be extracted to address the aims and objectives of the review. The risk of bias for each study will be assessed using JBI Critical Appraisal Tools.

Results:

Preliminary searches have been initiated as of February 2024, with the review expected to be completed by June 2024. The anticipated results will include a list of psychoeducational interventions and their associated effectiveness in reducing burnout among nurses. The review will identify interventions that demonstrate significant impact in published studies from various countries.

Conclusions:

Given the increasing prevalence of burnout among nurses and the adverse individual and organisation impact, the findings from this systematic review are expected to inform healthcare policy and practice by identifying effective psychoeducational interventions that can be implemented for burnout management among nurses. By pinpointing the success factors and barriers to implementing these interventions, the review aims to support all the relevant stakeholders in developing and implementing targeted strategies to combat nurse burnout, ultimately enhancing patient care quality and healthcare delivery. Clinical Trial: PROSPERO CRD42024505762; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42024505762