Abstract:

Burnout among healthcare workers continued to impact their health and productivity. This scoping review mapped and merged existing literature on burnout, work-related stress, and its factors among health professionals in non-governmental organizations(NGOs) in Nigeria. The implications and strategies for enhancing well-being were highlighted. This scoping review was conducted in five stages, and the report was aligned to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guideline. Multiple databases were searched for English-language articles posted between January 2003 and December 2024. Studies were filtered based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data was collected using a customized Excel-based table and analyzed thematically. Twenty-one studies were reviewed across five regions (Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Multiregional), with Nigerian studies representing 38%. Studies among the NGOs' health professionals were few. Most studies used the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and a combination of tools to measure burnout. Our study showed that the distribution of Burnout in Nigeria varied by cadre and settings. The burnout prevalence among primary care physicians was 13.6% driven by emotional exhaustion, 45% in public state facilities in Delta, 75.5% among tertiary hospital physicians in South-East, and 85% among Nurses and healthcare workers in private hospitals in Abuja. The common causes were excessive workload, limited resources, overcommitment, understaffing, and inadequate support. Research on burnout among NGO healthcare workers in Nigeria remained limited. Focused studies are needed to expand the evidence base, guide targeted interventions, and promote supportive workplace policies to enhance staff wellbeing.

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