Abstract

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest there is a high prevalence of burnout and depression among U.S. nurses.OBJECTIVES: To gauge the capability of the Well-Being Index (WBI) to stratify nurse distress (e.g., low quality of life [QOL], extreme fatigue, burnout, recent suicidal ideation) and well-being (high quality of life), and detect those whose level of distress may negatively affect retention or work performance METHODS: In 2016, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 3,147 U.S. nurses. The survey included the WBI and standard instruments to assess overall QOL, fatigue, burnout, recent suicidal ideation, patient-care errors, and intent to leave current job. We used Fisher exact test and Wilcoxon/2-sample t-test procedures with a 5% type I error rate and a two-sided alternative.RESULTS: Of the 812 (26%) nurses who completed the survey, 637 were eligible for the present analysis. Nurses with low mental QOL, extreme fatigue, recent suicidal ideation, or burnout had a higher total score (all P < .001) resulting in less favorable WBI scores. With a 17% pretest probability of low overall QOL, the WBI score can decrease the posttest probability of low QOL to 2% or increase it to 72%. The likelihood of high overall QOL decreased in a stepwise fashion from 3.38 to 0.04 as the WBI score increased. WBI score also stratified nurses' likelihood of reporting a recent patient-care error and/or intent to leave current job.The WBI is a useful screening tool to stratify both distress and well-being across a variety of domains in nurses and identify those nurses whose severity of distress may negatively affect patient care and retention.

View details for DOI 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000313

View details for PubMedID 30138124