Relationship between organizational commitment, working environment, and burnout in clinical nurses

Background: Burnout is a mental condition caused by chronic emotional or psychological stress. Organizational commitment is always an important issue in the field of organizational development of clinical nurses. The study aimed to assess the association between organizational commitment, work environment, and burnout in clinical nurses.

Materials and methods: This is a correlational descriptive study that was conducted from November 2021 to January 2021 on 456 clinical nurses at the Hazrat Rasul Akram University Hospital in Iran. The convenience sampling method was used. Data were collected using socio-demographic and work-related data collection sheet, the Working Environment Scale (WES-10), the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). Data were analyzed by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23.

Results: The overall results showed that the mean score of organizational commitment was 29.87 ± 8.19, the mean score of burnout was 91.98 ± 17.40, and the mean score of work environment satisfaction was 24.62 ± 7.53. There were negative and significant relationships between organizational commitment with burnout (r = -0.324, P < 0.001) and work environment satisfaction (r = -0.440, P < 0.001). Also, there was a positive and significant relationship between work environment satisfaction with burnout (r = 0.386, P < 0.001).

Conclusion: The nursing profession is widely recognized as one of the most stressful professions, often characterized by high rates of staff turnover, absenteeism, and burnout. The result of this study highlights the importance of positive work conditions for ensuring the commitment and well-being of clinical nurses.