Introduction: The nursing profession is facing a problem of the mass departure of nurses to less demanding workplaces. Nurses’ burnout contributes to lower job satisfaction, higher public health costs due to job quitting, absenteeism and lower job performance. Personality traits largely explain why employees differ in experiencing burnout under the same demanding working conditions. Purpose: The purpose of the master’s thesis is to determine how the demographic characteristics and personality traits of nurses employed in intensive care units relate to their professional fulfillment, burnout, and intention to leave the workplace. Methods: We used a non-experimental quantitative research method to obtain the results. We conducted an online survey using a combination of two already validated questionnaires – the shorter version of the Big Five Inventory and the Professional Fulfillment Index, as well as an additional question about the intention to leave the workplace. The sample in the survey is non-random and ad hoc and includes a total of 149 nurses employed in intensive care units in all hospitals across Slovenia, but of these, 16 nurses did not complete the Big Five Inventory. Parametric tests were used to test the hypotheses, and hierarchical linear regressions were performed. Statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05. Results: Neuroticism is associated with burnout moderately positively, extraversion and agreeableness moderately negatively, and conscientiousness and openness weakly and negatively. Professional fulfillment is weakly negatively associated with neuroticism, while positive and moderately high associated with extraversion and agreeableness. Personality traits predict 17% variance in burnout and 19% variance in professional fulfillment. Among personality traits, only low agreeableness is a statistically significant predictor of burnout, while only extraversion and agreeableness are predictors of professional fulfillment. Nurses with longer tenure reported lower burnout rates than those with less work experience. The intention to leave the job is associated with a higher level of burnout and a lower level of professional fulfillment. Discussion and conclusion: In order to retain nurses in intensive care units, it is important that leaders take measures to decrease or prevent burnout and foster professional fulfillment. With this aim they can encourage professional development, strengthening teamwork and cooperation, a good work-life balance, and provide appropriate psychological support to normalise the impact of work in intensive care unit on nurses’ mental health.
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