Nurse burnout is a threat to safe, efficient health care delivery, yet estimated rates of nurse burnout are above 40 %. A critical step in reducing burnout is identifying phenomena that are amenable to intervention. Loneliness may be one such factor, yet the relationship between loneliness and burnout is not clearly described. This review aims to summarize existing literature documenting this connection. A systematic search was performed to identify studies reporting a relationship between burnout and loneliness with social support serving as a proxy construct. Twenty-four articles met inclusion criteria: 18 quantitative, two mixed-methods, and four qualitative studies. These studies identified a relationship between burnout and social support, with social support explaining approximately a third of the variability in burnout. Qualitative data suggest that social support is critical to coping with work stressors and is likely related to burnout. This review provides evidence that reducing nurse loneliness is a promising strategy for improving nurse wellbeing.
Keywords: Burnout; Loneliness; Nurses; Nursing; Nursing workforce; Social support; Stress; Well-being; Wellbeing.
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