BURNOUT AND WORK ORGANIZATION IN-HOSPITAL WARDS - A CROSS-VALIDATION STUDY

The relationship between nurses' work organization in hospital wards a nd the level of burnout experienced by them was analysed in two indepe ndent and highly comparable samples of nurses. The hypothesis that the greater the number of nurses who are responsible for, or are having c ontact with, one patient during one work shift, the higher their exper ienced level of burnout will be, was partially confirmed in one of the two samples. We have attributed the contradictory results to differen ces in the management of nurses' work organization, and warned against fashionable ideas concerning the ideal type of nurses' work organizat ion in hospital wards.