Abstract
Background: Burnout is a work-related phenomenon, caused from workplace stressors, affecting healthcare providers leading to adverse organizational, individual and patient consequences. Rates of burnout among nurses in the United States (U.S) ranges between 35-45%, and more than half of all health care providers identify with having some symptom of burnout. Nurses working in nursing homes have higher burnout rates than those in other clinical settings.|Methods: The DNP project was conducted at a Midwestern long-term care facility comprised of eight cottages, with each cottage housing up to thirteen elders. The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was utilized pre and post gratitude journal intervention to determine initial level of burnout and any change among these workers in the three subscales of employee exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and personal achievement (PA) after a 21-day gratitude journal intervention.|Results: A paired samples t test was performed to determine a change between the pre and post intervention assessments. The results did not reveal a statistical significance between the pre and post intervention MBI results in the three subscales of EE, DP and PA. The subscale of depersonalization showed the most improvement in score. The positive impact this QI project had on the participants can’t be discounted. The 21-day gratitude journal was a cost-effective, time manageable and personal intervention to assist in addressing burnout and creating a positive impact in the work environment of one long-term care facility.