Stress management techniques as an intervention for prevention of burnout among nurses in public hospitals in Tharaka-Nithi County, Kenya

Abstract

The nursing profession as a social career offers multifaceted services in terms of medical care, social support and emotional attention to patients and their families. The multifaceted services and complexity of contemporary medical conditions as well as job demands often culminate in burnout of nurses. This study sought to examine stress management techniques as an intervention for prevention of burnout among nurses in public hospitals in Tharaka-Nithi County in Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design on a population of 206 nurses, 2 psychologists and 3 nurses in charge in three public hospitals. Purposive, stratified, proportionate and random sampling techniques were used to determine a sample size of 165 respondents. Data was collected by means of questionnaires and interview guide. The validity of the research instruments established through expert opinion of University supervisors while reliability was estimated by use of Cronbach Alpha coefficient. Data analysis utilized descriptive statistics necessitated through SPSS version 28.0. Thematic techniques were applied to qualitative data. The findings indicated that stress management techniques prevented burnout among nurses. It was recommended that policy makers in the ministry of health optimize comprehensive and mandatory stress management techniques for all nurses in an attempt to prevent burnout.