Existential attitudes as predictors of burnout in Polish nurses employed in rural primary healthcare settings

Introduction. Existential attitudes distinguished by G. Reker express the meaning of life and affect the way individuals perceive themselves, the reality as well as their ability to cope with challenges. Thus, it can be assumed that life attitudes also determine burnout understood as a syndrome of psychological symptoms that occur in professionally active people due to chronic occupational stress. Objective. The aim of the study is to examine which existential attitudes determine burnout in nurses employed in rural primary healthcare settings in Poland Material and methods. The study sample comprised 120 nurses employed in rural primary healthcare settings in Poland. The Life Attitude Profile – Revised (LAP-R) adapted by R. Klamut and The Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ) adapted by A. Jaworowska were used in the research. Results. The stronger the belief of the surveyed nurses concerning life goals they possess and the more internally coherent they are, the lower psychophysical exhaustion they experience. Whereas, psychophysical exhaustion rises with an increase in the need for introducing changes in life. Relationship deterioration and disillusion decrease with the level of engagement in seeking new goals in life. The sense of professional ineffectiveness drops if the belief of the nurses that they possess life goals gets stronger. Moreover, the stronger the meaning of life becomes, the stronger the professional ineffectiveness of the nurses is. Conclusions. The analyses performed proved that some existential attitudes are predictors of burnout in nurses employed in rural areas. The research results can be applied in the development of prevention and aid programs to enhance the quality of nurses’ personal and professional performance.