International Journal of Social and Behavioural Sciences Vol. 1 (6), pp. 112-121 June 2013 ISSN 2327-719X ©2013 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Gender differences in burnout among health workers in the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital Ado-Ekiti

Adebayo Sulaiman Olanrewaju and Osagu Judith Chineye

Department of Psychology, Faculty of the Social Sciences, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: lanryadd@yahoo.com.

Accepted 31 May, 2013

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate gender difference in the experience of burnout among four groups of health workers in Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti. One hundred and forty health workers were selected through purposive sampling from the Ekiti State Teaching Hospital comprising of 16 pharmacists, 30 health assistants, 36 doctors and 58 nurses. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was administered to test the level of burnout. Four hypotheses were tested using Student’s Independent t-test. Results revealed that sex has a significant effect on burnout; female health workers are more vulnerable to burnout than their male counterparts. Findings were discussed in the light of previous literature on gender and burnout.  Based on the findings, it was recommended that management should employ more hands in order to reduce work overload and that they should organise seminars and social activities to help workers loosen up.

Key words: Gender, burnout, health workers, teaching hospital, Ado-Ekiti.