Nurses Must Be Assertive or Risk Burnout

Recent studies report that 4% of novice nurses in Japan quit within nine months on the job, while 8.5% quit within one year.

[ClickPress, Mon Jan 01 2007] 2007—Researchers from the Japan Academy of Nursing Science set out to explore the factors contributing to this turnover rate, as the issue of early turnover and burnout of novice nurses - although traditionally a socially ‘taboo’ matter – has recently gained momentum as an important subject in the health-care industry as a whole.

Published by Blackwell Publishing in the latest issue of Japan Journal of Nursing Science, this paper aims to clarify the relationship between the level of assertiveness of the novice nurses and the incidence of burnout in their first year at university hospitals, as well as to catalogue to the factors vital in assertion training in order to arm the novices against the seemingly inevitable burnout.

Led by key author Dr. Eiko Suzuki from the School of Nursing at the Yamagata University’s Faculty of Medicine, the researchers hypothesized that the best method for preventing burnout was to employ an internal approach and focus the training on the concept of assertiveness. Findings published in the paper include:

- 20.5% of the novice nurses experienced burnout and 7.2 % from serious burnout during their first year at university hospital in Japan.

- Novice nurses tend to burnout easily when their assertiveness scores are either too low or too high in Japan.

The results of the study clearly demonstrated that the effect of assertiveness of novice nurses directly impacted on the incidence of serious burnout during their first year – hence indicating that provision of assertiveness training is vital in enabling nurses to deal with the stresses of the job and avoid career burnout.

Dr Suzuki said, “It is imperative that novice nurses have the ways to prevent the burnout by themselves. This study reiterates the importance of assertiveness training for novice nurses at university hospitals – giving them the necessary skills to cope with the incidence of burnout and serious burnout – especially during their first year of working life.”


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This paper is published in the December 2006 issue of Japan Journal of Nursing Science (2006, 3, 93 - 106). Media wishing to receive a PDF or further information should contact Alina Boey, Public Relations Asia at 613-8359 1046.

About Japan Journal of Nursing Science
The Japan Journal of Nursing Science is the official English language journal of the Japan Academy of Nursing Science. The purpose of the Journal is to provide a mechanism to share knowledge related to improving health care and promoting the development of nursing. The Journal seeks original manuscripts reporting scholarly work on the art and science of nursing. Original articles may be empirical and qualitative studies, review articles, methodological articles, brief reports, case studies and letters to the Editor.


About Blackwell Publishing
Blackwell Publishing is the world’s leading society publisher, partnering with 660 academic and professional societies. Blackwell publishes over 800 journals and has over 6,000 books in print, across a wide range of academic, medical, and professional subjects. Blackwell’s mission as an expert publisher is to create long-term partnerships with our clients that enhance learning, disseminate research, and improve the quality of professional practice.


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