Abstract

This study was conducted for the purpose of investigating the relationship between some burnout-related socio-demographic and professional variables and level of burnout of midwives working as health care workers. Burnout is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job and is defined by the three dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy. It a special significance in health care where staff experience both psychological-emotional and physical stress. Measuring burnout among midwives is important because their well-being has implications for stability in the healthcare workforce and for the quality of care provided. This research, planned as a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The population was the 257 midwives who work in Sivas, Eastern Turkey province center. There were 110 of these midwives who did not want to participate in the study or were on maternity or vacation leave and were, therefore, not included in the study, leaving 147 midwives who were included in the sample. The research data were collected on a 28-item questionnaire prepared from information in related literature and the Maslach Burnout Inventory which were administered using interview technique. The data obtained were analyzed in the computer with Variance Analysis, Kruskal Wallis and Tukey tests. Midwives’ level of burnout was moderate. Age, marital status, number of children, work area and work schedule were not found to have an effect on the midwives' burnout. However midwives who had not willingly chosen the profession, who stated that they worked in the profession for economic reasons, who were not pleased with working in their profession had higher mean scores for levels of emotional burnout and depersonalization and a lower mean score for personal accomplishment (p < 0.05)According to the research results some socio-demographic characteristics of midwives (personal characteristics, place of employment, work schedule, length of employment, school from which graduated) had an effect on burnout.

Key words: Midwifery, socio-demographic characteristics, Maslach BurnoutInventory, burnout level.