Study: Nurse leader burnout, compassion satisfaction, work-life balance

Editor's Note

All levels of nurse leaders are at risk of burnout and must garner compassion satisfaction from different sources, including peer and staff interactions, this study finds.

The Professional Quality of Life scale was given to 672 nurse leaders at 29 hospitals in one health system, and 16 leaders from 2 hospitals participated in qualitative interviews.

All 672 nurse leaders reported similar levels of burnout across frontline, midlevel, and director-level leadership positions, with directors demonstrating higher levels of compassion satisfaction and lower levels of work-life balance.

Nurse leaders must address the risk for burnout and go through individual and organizational resiliency strategies, the researchers say.