A Comparison of the Effect of Work Stress on Burnout and Quality of Life Between Female Nurses and Female Doctors

ABSTRACT. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of work stress on job burnout
and quality of life between female nurses and doctors in China. The participants were 947 female
nurses and 685 female doctors selected from Fujian provinces by using stratified cluster sampling
method. The Chinese version of Short Form-36 Health Survey was used to measure quality of life; the
Occupation Stress Inventory—Revised Edition was applied for occupational stress; and the Maslach
Burnout Inventory—General Survey was used to assess job burnout. Occupational stress (indicated
by different stressors) played an important role in job burnout and quality of life among female nurses
and female doctors when taking into account other potential influencing factors simultaneously. These
results show that it is important to adopt different preventive measures to prevent burnout and improve
quality of life among the 2 populations according to the different stressors.

n China, medical professionals have been a special group with large populations. By the end of 2008, the number of
this population reached about 6.2 million in the country (including over 2.1 million registered doctors and assistant
doctors, and nearly 1.7 million registered nurses.1 However, medical professionals usually suffer from occupational stress
resulting from high expectations coupled with insufficient time, skills, and/or social support at work.2,3 This can lead to
severe distress, job burnout, or physical illness, and finally to a decrease in quality of life (QOL).4,5 In general, Chinese women undertake more housework than men. So the female medical professionals have the extra responsibility to
deal with a lot of housework besides the tasks in hospitals.
This situation leads to female medical professionals experiencing more stress. So the health-related issues, such as job
burnout and quality of life, in female medical professionals themselves are being increasingly recognized and concerned.
However, female nurses and female doctors have different jobs for the different training although they work together
to provide health care for patients. Most Chinese nurses are trained for 3 years at a health school following 9 years of
primary and secondary schooling. With a relatively low level of knowledge and skill, nurses may only help patients with
many of their basic care needs. Nurses in China perform
basic duties in both the wards and operating rooms. They
are responsible for basic nursing care, which includes taking
temperatures, oral administration of medicine, and giving injections. However, doctors in China are different from the
nurses in the education, training, knowledge, and role. Most
Chinese doctors are trained for 5 years at a medical university
in what are called bachelor’s degree programs. And some of
them are trained for another 3 years at the medical university in master’s degree programs (or 6 years in the doctoral
degree program) following 5 years of bachelor’s degree programs. It is usually doctors who make treatment decisions
and implement an operation strategy for the patients during
treatment. It is an important task to make a distinction of
the major factors that may influence job burnout and QOL
between female nurses and female doctors, so that the different intervention programs can be introduced to prevent job burnout and improve their QOL.
Job burnout was described as feelings of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal
accomplishment. Nurses and doctors are considered to be particularly susceptible to job burnout in many countries.6–8
QOL is one of the most important aspects of human health, which is embedded in a physical, cultural, and social context. Poor QOL has been found to be strongly associated with reduced work performance and early retirement.9 Previous studies have documented that job burnout and QOL can be influenced by multiple factors

It has been suggested that in order to effectively prevent job burnout and address the QOL among female nurses and female doctors, relevant information is needed about the factors that contribute to the problems and the interventions.12 Few studies, to date, have compared job burnout and QOL and their link to occupational stress between female nurses and doctors after taking into account other potential influencing factors simultaneously. The objectives of the present study were to make a comparison of the effect of occupational stress on job burnout and quality of life between female nurses and doctors in China after adjusting other potential influencing factors. The information will be useful to develop different strategies to prevent job burnout and improve QOL for the 2 different occupational groups in China.
completed questionnaires. Of 900 female doctors who were contacted, 685 (76%) returned completed questionnaires.