Relationship Between Burnout and Nursing Documentation Completeness in Inpatient Wards

Abstract

Incomplete nursing documentation remains a persistent problem in hospital inpatient care and may be influenced by nurse burnout arising from sustained workload. This study aimed to examine the relationship between burnout level and the completeness of nursing documentation among inpatient ward nurses at Sari Asih Ar Rahmah Islamic Hospital. A cross-sectional design was used with a total sampling technique involving all 52 inpatient ward nurses. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (Indonesian-adapted version), and documentation completeness was assessed using a structured observation checklist based on hospital documentation standards; data were analyzed using the chi-square test with a contingency coefficient to determine the strength of association. Most respondents experienced a moderate level of burnout (63.5%) and produced documentation rated as sufficiently complete (53.8%). The chi-square test showed a significant association between burnout level and documentation completeness (χ² = 8.34, df = 1, p = 0.004), with a contingency coefficient of 0.386, indicating a weak-to-moderate positive association. Contrary to common assumptions, nurses with higher burnout levels were not associated with poorer documentation; several covered well or better. These findings suggest that burnout alone does not fully explain documentation completeness, and that organizational factors such as supervision, workload distribution, and documentation systems likely play a complementary role. Hospital management is recommended to strengthen burnout-prevention programs alongside structured documentation support systems