Impact of Peer Support Programs on Reducing Burnout among Nurses

Abstract

Background: Burnout among nurses has emerged as a critical occupational health concern worldwide, particularly in high-stress environments. Nurses are responsible for providing continuous, complex, and life-saving care to critically ill patients, which requires high levels of clinical expertise, emotional resilience, and quick decision-making. Methodology: A quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design was conducted among 34 ICU nurses at Aziz Bhatti Shaheed Teaching Hospital, Gujrat, from February to May 2026. Participants were selected using a stratified random sampling technique based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Baseline burnout levels were assessed using a demographic questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Following the pretest, nurses participated in a structured peer support program comprising group discussions, guided peer meetings, stress-sharing activities, coping strategies, teamwork, and peer-to-peer counseling sessions. After completion of the intervention, burnout was reassessed using the same MBI. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation) were used to summarize the data, while the Shapiro–Wilk test assessed normality. A paired t-test was applied to compare pre-and post-intervention burnout scores, with a p-value of ≤0.05 considered statistically significant.