Influence of Emotional Labour on Burnout in Selected Hospitals of Punjab: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach

Abstract

Over the last few years, India is experiencing a revolution in healthcare sector. Due to increase in diseases, it has become the responsibility of hospitals and medical staff to provide the best facilities and the personal touch to the patients. While doing this job, the employees have to undergo through emotional labour and burnout. The objective of this study is to find the influence of emotional labour on job satisfaction in selected public and private hospitals of Punjab. The total sample comprises 1193 doctors, nurses and paramedical staff (ratio 1:2:1) from hospitals. The Dutch Questionnaire on Emotional Labor (D-QEL) developed and validated by Nearing et.al (2005) and burnout tool by Pines and Aronson (1988) were used to assess physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. Descriptive statistics was applied to check the level of emotional labour and burnout, structural equation modelling technique was applied to find the influence of emotional labour on burnout. Results showed that employees in selected hospitals of Punjab had moderate level of emotional labour and burnout. There was a positive significant correlation between emotional labour and burnout. Emotional labour emerged as the significant predictor of burnout as standardized regression coefficient of emotional labour and burnout was 0.74. Hospital authorities should provide emotional assistance to their employees by providing their employees with recreational clubs, yoga training, seminars, etc.

Keywords: Emotional Labour, Burnout, Employees, Hospitals

View PDF