Impact of Nurse Burnout on Patient Safety and Quality of Care in Intensive Care Units in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Nurse burnout has become a pressing global health workforce issue, and its implications on patient safety and quality of care are increasingly recognised. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), there are great resource constraints and workforce shortages, especially in high acuity settings such as high dependency units (HDUs) and intensive care units (ICUs). Such has contributed to stress within the working environs on nursing staff in most health facilities. This scoping review aims to examine the prevalence and determinants of nurse burnout in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and explores how burnout may impact patient safety and care quality in High-Dependency Unit (HDU)/Intensive Care Unit (ICU) settings. The methodology outlines a proposed survey instrument using a validated burnout questionnaire combined with metrics of patient safety and quality of care, and statistical analysis methods. Findings from the literature indicate a high prevalence of burnout among nurses in SSA (for instance, emotional exhaustion resulting to 66 %) (Owuor et al., 2020) and suggest the relationship between nurse workload assigned, burnout, and the adverse patient outcomes. The discussion elaborates on the implications for ICU/HDU nursing, putting emphasis on the mechanisms by which burnout may degrade the quality of care, for instance, through increased operational errors, decreased vigilance, as well as missed care, and proposes directions for future research work and policy formulation in the health sector across the SSA. In conclusion, addressing nurse burnout is not only a workforce well-being imperative but also central to safeguarding patient safety and improving care quality in critical care settings in SSA.