Beliefs about death and dying among ambulance nurses and the burnout syndrome

Introduction. Protect the health of workers by virtue of their profession at work very often come into contact with the death of their care.

Aim of the study. The objective of the study was to check whether negative beliefs about death and dying influence the development of
nurse burnout.

Material and methods. The research was conducted among 100 nurses working in Ambulance Stations in the province of Podlasie. Two
research tools were used: the author’s own, anonymous survey questionnaire and the Maslach Bournout Inventory questionnaire.

Results. Emotional exhaustion was observed in people who had experienced the death of someone close, as compared to people who
had not gone through this experience. No significant statistical relationship was found between the intensity of thinking about the death of
a loved one and the level of burnout syndrome.

Conclusions. Higher level of the burnout syndrome, particularly the level of emotional exhaustion and/or depersonalisation is higher in
those nurses who more often think about their own death. The nurses considered that the phenomenon of death, you can get used the
lower level was observed subjective sense of lack of personal achievements.