THE DETERMINANTS OF NURSING FACULTY BURNOUT.
Contributors: Indiana University.
Published: 1983
Number of pages: 189
Subjects: Education, Higher.
Description: This was an exploratory study to discover the determinants of burnout for nursing faculty who teach in generic baccalaureate programs in selected institutions of higher education. There were three main objectives: (1) to classify faculty burnout variables; (2) to examine the heuristic value of Bean's causal model of student attrition in establishing causal linkages in faculty burnout; (3) to identify the determinants of nursing faculty burnout in selected institutions of higher education.

A causal model of nursing faculty burnout was developed which includes five basic elements: background variables, organizational determinants, environmental determinants, outcome determinants and the dependent variable--burnout syndrome. The background variables were age and previous work experience. The organizational determinants were work overload, routinization, pay, communication, participation, level taught, role clarity, support network, autonomy, integration, and alienation. The outcome determinants were person-role fit, competence, fair treatment, and boredom. The environmental determinants included three elements: family responsibilities, opportunity to change jobs, and opportunity to leave. There were three dependent variables: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment, each of which was considered as an indicator of burnout.

The data were collected by questionnaire. The questionnaire contained the following elements: the MBI (Maslach Burnout Inventory) testing emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, reduced sense of personal accomplishment; other items by Price and Mueller (1981), estimating professional nurse turnover; and Bean's questionnaire items derived from his theory of student attrition (Bean, 1980). The instrument provided the measures for 23 variables. The sample consisted of 166 generic baccalaureate nursing faculty.

The data analyses used mainly multiple regression and path analysis. The independent variables accounted for 16% of the variance in emotional exhaustion, 27% of the variance in depersonalization, and 40% of the variance in reduced personal accomplishment. The independent variables best predicted reduced personal accomplishment in the burnout syndrome.

Since nursing faculty are at double risk for burnout, many practical applications were discussed such as (1) improving job design; (2) fostering instrumental communications; (3) decreasing rules and regulations; and (4) supporting nursing's effort toward professionalism.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-11, Section: A, page: 3286.

Thesis (ED.D.)--INDIANA UNIVERSITY, 1983.

School code: 0093.