Stress, burnout and locus of control in German nurses

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of locus of control and w ork-related stress on burnout in hospital staff nurses. A convenience sampl e of 361 staff nurses from nine units in five German hospitals were surveye d using the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Locus of Control Questionnaire a nd a Work-Related Stress Inventory. Causal modeling was used to explore the moderating effect of locus of control on burnout. Results support the hypo thesized model and suggest that greater work-related stress and burnout wou ld be associated with poorer locus of control in nurses. The findings suppo rted the notion that perceived degree of control is instrumental in enablin g nurses to cope with stress and burnout. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al l rights reserved.