Stress and burnout among NICU nurses

Nurses are susceptible to burnout because of the nature and the emotional demands of their profession. The environment of ICU's has been recognized as stressful. Intensive care nurses confront death and dying, end of life decisions, and ethical dilemmas regularly. In addition to providing vigilant care to their patients, nurses interact frequently with distraught families³. The NICU nurse in addition to looking after a critically ill neonate has to interact with the devastated parents of the baby which adds fuel to fire. Identification of job related stressors and strategies that can be employed to manage occupational stress for the nursing profession have been receiving increased consideration by researchers, nursing organizations, and employers over the last two decades¹.