Low Turnover Rate of Public Health Nurses despite High Burnout: A Focus Group Study

公共衛生護理人員高工作倦怠但低離職率之現象探究：焦點團體之應用

工作倦怠乃文獻中時常被提及之影響護理人員離職的重要因素。高度工作倦怠也代表護理人員離職之高度可能。然而，臺灣官方數據卻顯示基層衛生所之公衛護理人員雖處於高度工作倦怠，但長年離職率卻偏低。本研究乃透過三場焦點座談，並運用主題分析法，探討衛生所護理人員高度倦怠卻不離職之原因，並探究促使其高度倦怠之重要因素。結果顯示，身為護理人員的使命感、公部門提供的穩定工作與退休金、以及工作彈性，乃為公衛護理人員在面臨高度倦怠卻仍堅持崗位的主要原因。而高度工作倦怠乃源於繁重之工作負荷以及人力甄補之限制。

Studies have shown that work burnout is an important factor positively associated with turnover of nurses, which implies that high burnout leads to high turnover. However, administrative data in Taiwan reveals that the turnover rates of nurses in public health centers have been low despite their high burnout levels. This study held three focus groups to investigate why public health nurses do not leave the system despite experiencing high burnout, as well as the reasons behind these high burnout levels. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The results demonstrate that a sense of mission to serve the public; job security and pension provided by the career civil service system; and job flexibility were the three themes emerging when public health nurses explained why they keep working in the system when experiencing severe burnout. Moreover, the main reasons for the high burnout levels were work overload and staffing shortages.