Nursing assistant burnout and the cognitively impaired elderly

This article employs the cognitive appraisal model to examine the experience of burnout in a random sample of nursing assistants (N = 245). The three subscales of Maslach's Burnout Inventory--Emotional Exhaustion, Personal Accomplishment, Depersonalization--serve as the dependent variables in this study. The study found that both stressor and appraisal variables influence feelings of burnout. The stressor variable, frequency of disturbing patient behaviors, best explained feelings of reduced Personal Accomplishment. The appraisal variable, reaction to patient behaviors, best explained Emotional Exhaustion and contributed to the explanation of reduced Personal Accomplishment. Age, minutes spent giving physical care, appraisal of work tasks, and reaction to patient behavior, explained Depersonalization. The study found support for the cognitive appraisal model in that appraisal played an important role in determining burnout. The article concludes with some suggestions for relief of nursing assistant burnout.