The Effect of Physical Activity on Burnout Syndrome in Emergency Room Nurses Working in Public Hospitals

The concept of burnout, and indeed its increasing prevalence in recent years, has been a matter οf major concern among psycologists, sociologists and HR specialists. This research aims to explore the impact of physical activity on burnout syndrome experienced by emergency room nurses in public hospitals. The preliminary research sample consisted of 476 emergency room nurses working in the 3rd, 4th and 5th Health Regions of Greece. The participants’ age ranged from 22 to 60years (age 42.49±9.5 years). The participants completed questionnaires that assessed burnout and physical activity. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was utilised, which comprises 22 symptom items and measures three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, personal accomplishment and depersonalisation. In addition, and for measuring physical activity, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ, short version) (recall period one week) (Craig, et. al., 2003) was used. The said questionnaire consists of 7 questions collecting information on the time spent each day in vigorous, moderate and walking physical activities as well as the time spent sitting over a period of seven days. The measurement method used was the Likert scale. The results showed that nurses experienced a high level of burnout, whilst the majority of them demonstrated a low level of physical activity and that physical activity is directly correlated to burnout, as is positively effects all three factors. It is therefore concluded that physical activity seems to have a positive effect on the emotional balance of the worker helping him/her deal with the symptoms of burnout.