Date of Conferral

2023

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Nursing

Advisor

Leslie Hussey

Abstract

AbstractBurnout is a global health problem with a significant negative impact on the physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being of critical care nurses, which in turn has serious effects on the critical care work environment. Positive thinking has the potential of transforming the work environment. The purposes of this quantitative, correlational study, guided by Lazarus’s theory of stress, were to determine (a) if there was a relationship between the use of positive thinking skills and burnout among critical care nurses, and (b) if there was a difference between the use of positive thinking skills and burnout among critical care nurses who have been working in the critical care units for 1 year or less compared with critical care nurses who have been working in critical care more than 1 year. A total of 242 critical care nurses working in acute care hospitals in the Southern United States participated in the study. Data were analyzed with Pearson correlation. Results showed a statistically significant negative correlation between positive thinking and emotional exhaustion (p < .001), a statistically significant negative correlation between positive thinking and depersonalization (p < .001), and a statistically significant positive correlation between positive thinking and personal accomplishment (p < .001). The findings provide new information which may promote a positive work environment, reduce and prevent burnout and can be used to assist with the development of formal training on positive thinking to empower critical care nurses to increase awareness of their personal strengths, which can affect positive social change. Future research should be directed towards interventional studies with pretest-posttest control groups to establish a causal link between positive thinking and burnout.

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