Thesis

care workers (usually nurses). In such a widely researched area it is somewhat of a challenge
to find a new topic to highlight or to look at burnout from a different angle, however this does
not mean that one should not try. The aim of this study was to look at burnout from a nation-
based point of view since not much research has been done in connection to burnout
comparing two different countries, especially Hungarian and Swedish nurses. Also, another
aim was to show burnout in Hungarian and Swedish nurses in relation to a wide variety of
variables, in order to be able to identify which is the most important variable(s) in connection
to burnout. This approach is highly recommended in future research since it is still a challenge
to identify which factors are causing or preventing burnout and when looking at several
variables at the same time it is easier to allocate the most important variable(s). This study
looked specifically at emergency ward nurses and in future research it is still highly
recommended to conduct research among emergency ward nurses, since there is limited
literature in connection to this. However, it is also recommended that future research makes
comparisons between different wards, since the literature today is not in agreement whether
some wards are more prone for burnout than others. Therefore, it looks like there are still a
number of areas which can be made a focus in future research and this study hoped to have
contributed to the gap in the literature in nation-based comparisons regarding nurses and
burnout, in burnout related to emergency ward nurses, and by looking at five different areas
(demographic variables, work-related factors, life satisfaction, personality, and social
support), where some areas have been extensively connected to burnout (e.g., social support)
and other areas have received much less attention (e.g., life satisfaction). Future research
should make sure that the samples are equal in their distribution of for example age and thus
can be compared to each other accurately in all areas included in the study. This study’s
results should not be generalized to all emergency nurses in Hungary or Sweden but shows
nation-based differences merely in relation to the two different samples included in this study.
6.2. CAN WE PREVENT BURNOUT?
In such an important area as burnout which has such unpleasant effects on people’s lives as
this condition, it is important to try to give suggestions for prevention in light of ones
findings. To be able to prevent burnout would be a true breakthrough for people suffering
from it and for the researchers studying it. However, there is no “easy fix” for burnout since
there are such a wide variety of factors inducing it. What might cause burnout for some people