Identifying protective factors related to burnout, moral injury, and resilience of registered nurses: An exploratory analysis

Abstract

Nursing leadership continue to grapple with the pre‐existing social, physical, spiritual, and emotional toll experienced by the nursing workforce, further exacerbated by the pandemic. The three‐fold purpose of this current quantitative study was to measure the impact of the pandemic on nurses’ levels of burnout, moral injury, and resilience; measure levels of compassion satisfaction, and secondary traumatic stress; and identify protective factors against burnout and moral injury that could bolster resilience. An electronic survey was created using three validated instruments and sent to nurses in one US state. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed. Survey response rate was 5.5%. Respondents reported high levels of burnout and moral injury, and reduced levels of resilience. Protective factors included age, experience, education, and religion, with the older, more experienced, and educated nurse who identified as Christian being found to represent the most protected group. Multipronged strategies are needed to support, sustain, and recover nurses’ mental health across demographics to meet current and future workforce needs.