[The relationship between burnout and religious belief among nuns serving as nurses].

In this paper the findings of a study designed to assess whether nuns serving as nurses and having definite religious persuasions feel the same degree of burnout in their service of helping patients as non-religious nurses are presented. For this purpose two questionnaires were used, namely the Post-Critical Belief Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Subjects of the study had been working as a nurse for at least 5 years and 188 such subjects were enrolled. The causative factors behind burnout were studied. Only women were included in the study. Statistical analysis has surprisingly shown that the extent of burnout did not increase in direct proportion with the years spent at work and burnout as a dependent variable could be explained by age only to a minimal extent. After this, the influence of another factor, i.e. religious belief, on burnout was studied. However, religious belief cannot be described and quantified with a single numerical value; therefore, three aspects were measured. These aspects included the self-rated degree of religious belief, attendance at religious services and the "Post-Critical Belief Scale". The values based on these aspects showed a linear relationship and were indirectly proportional with burnout. Consequently, religious belief can be regarded as a protective factor against burnout in the present sample. In addition, the extent of burnout was found to be the lowest in the community of nuns living in a religious order, it was higher among nurses working at religious institutions and it was the highest among nurses working at state hospitals. Thus, religious belief has a decisive role in avoiding a burnout.