The effect of nursing internship program on burnout and professional commitment

Background: Professional commitment is defined as a belief in and acceptance of the values of the profession which is chosen, effort to actualize these values, desire to improve him/herself. Nurses' professional and organizational commitment are influenced by factors such as job stress, job satisfaction and burnout. Objective: This study was conducted to determine the effect of nursing internship program on professional commitment and burnout of senior nursing students. Design: A quasi-experimental study with a pretest and posttest without control group design was used. Methods: Students who were attending nursing internship program and agreed to participate were included in the study. Sample consisted of 101 students. Data were collected with a questionnaire, the burnout measure short version and nursing professional commitment scale. Results: After the nursing internship, 77.2% were pleased to study nursing, 83.2% were pleased to be a senior student, 55.4% did not have any intention to change their profession, 81.2% wanted to work as nurses, and 82.2% were planning career advancement in nursing of the students, 34.7% and 43.6% were found to experience burnout, before and after the nursing internship, respectively (p < 0.05). When the students' mean pre-test and post-test scores on the nursing professional commitment scale were compared, a significant difference was found between mean scores on the total score and "maintaining membership" subscale (p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study revealed that after the nursing internship, burnout and professional commitment levels of the students increased.