Burnout and work organization in hospital wards: A cross-validation study

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