Exploring coping mechanisms of nurses against burnout in a psychiatric hospital in Botswana
Open accessAbstract
Nurses are in the forefront of the health care force and nursing is one of the most draining occupations causing emotional and physical exhaustion. Literature has shown that nurses working in a psychiatric hospital experience burnout more than those working in general hospitals. Even though nurses experience burnout in the workplace, they use different mechanisms to cope to improve nursing care. The study aims at exploring how they cope with burnout in the workplace. To explore and describe the coping mechanisms that nurses use to improve coping with burnout in a psychiatric hospital in Botswana. Setting and Sampling: Purposive sampling selected 10 nurses who were working in a certain psychiatric hospital in Botswana. The study used a qualitative research design with explorative and descriptive approaches. Data collection was conducted by telephone due to the Covid-19 restrictions and a semi-structured guiding tool was utilised. Data was analysed using thematic analysis. Four main themes emerged from the study namely, coping with burnout in a psychiatric hospital, factors contributing to burnout among nurses, manifestations of burnout and suggestions to improve burnout. Some of the coping sub-themes were debriefing with friends and colleagues, engaging in activities outside work and lastly playing board games with patients. The study has shown that nurses use different coping mechanisms to deal with burnout including social support mechanisms.
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Nurses and physicians who used humor, meaning-making, and self-reflection managed burnout more effectively, while those who suppressed emotions or detached themselves experienced greater emotional exhaustion.
“Qualitative studies confirmed these patterns, showing that nurses and physicians who used humor, meaning-making, and self-reflection managed burnout more effectively, while those who suppressed emotions or detached themselves experienced greater emotional exhaustion (19, 33).”
From Management strategies for healthcare worker burnout in Sub-Saharan Africa: an integrative review (2026) · cites this paper as [19]
Culturally grounded coping, including spirituality, prayer, social connectedness and community identity, was widely used and experienced as protective, particularly where formal support systems were limited.
“Culturally grounded coping, including spirituality, prayer, social connectedness and community identity, was widely used and experienced as protective, particularly where formal support systems were limited (19).”
From Management strategies for healthcare worker burnout in Sub-Saharan Africa: an integrative review (2026) · cites this paper as [19]
Burnout management in Sub-Saharan Africa is multifaceted, shaped by the interplay between organizational support, interpersonal relationships, individual burnout management strategies, and culturally grounded practices.
“Collectively, the findings demonstrate that burnout management in the region is multifaceted, shaped by the interplay between organizational support, interpersonal relationships, individual burnout management strategies, and culturally grounded practices (12–14, 19).”
From Management strategies for healthcare worker burnout in Sub-Saharan Africa: an integrative review (2026) · cites this paper as [19]
Spirituality strengthened resilience.
“Spirituality strengthened resilience (19).”
From Management strategies for healthcare worker burnout in Sub-Saharan Africa: an integrative review (2026) · cites this paper as [19]
Cites
Burnout in nursing: a theoretical review.
Dall’Ora, C., Ball, J., Reinius, M., & Griffiths, P. (2020) · Human Resources for Health · doi:10.1186/s12960-020-00469-9 · Cited by 1,181 · see citing works
Zhang, X.-J., Song, Y., Jiang, T., Ding, N., & Shi, T.-Y. (2020) · Medicine · doi:10.1097/md.0000000000020992 · Cited by 233 · see citing works
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Management strategies for healthcare worker burnout in Sub-Saharan Africa: an integrative review
Khangamwa-Singano, F., Singano, V. H., Kaunda, P., Machongo, R. B., & Nkhoma-Mussa, Y. B. (2026) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2026.1779807 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Qualitative studies reinforced these patterns and described coping as an ongoing negotiation shaped by personal beliefs, workload and emotional demands (19, 33).”
Influential
- Authors
- Masoloko, A., Magdalena, Koen, P., Maserapelo, & Serapelwane, G.
- Affiliations
- North-West University (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Masoloko, Aobakwe
- Venue
- International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024
- Volume
- 20
- Pages
- 100684
- ISSN
- 2214-1391 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4392247468
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 3.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- North-West University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Occupational Health and Burnout
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Stress and Burnout Research
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Keywords
- nurse burnout, coping strategies, psychiatric nursing, nurses, social support, debriefing, occupational stress, emotional exhaustion, Botswana
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