Why do Nurses Experience Burnout? Burnout is a highly unusual type of stress disorder that is essentially characterized by emotional exhaustion, lack of empathy with patients, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishments. The nature of the work that healthcare practitioners perform predisposes them to emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, the lack of empathy towards patients is caused by the nurses feeling that they are underpaid and unappreciated. Numerous researches have associated burnout with the increasing rate of nurse turnover. This paper explores the causes of burnouts in nurses as well as what can be done to prevent the them. Unrealized Expectations First, nurses experience burnout because of their unrealized …show more content…
However, upon securing a job, they find that things on the ground are not as they had expected them to be and this results in some of them deciding to leave the profession early. Research shows that turnovers within the nursing fraternity target person below the age of 30 (Erickson & Grove, 2011). The high turnover within the nursing fraternity results in a massive nurse shortage. This means that the nurses who decide to stay have to work for many hours resulting in exhaustion. A significant percent of nurses quitting their job sites exhaustion and discouragement as the reason that contributed to their decision. In one of the studies conducted on the issue of nurse turnover, 50% of the nurses leaving the profession argued that they felt saddened and discouraged by what they were unable to do for their patients (Erickson & Grove, 2011). When a nurse witness his/her patients suffering but cannot do anything because of the prevailing conditions he/she feels as if he/she is not realizing the reason that prompted him/her to join the nursing profession. The higher rate of nursing turnover is also affecting the quality of care nurses provide to …show more content…
Some of the strategies that can help prevent the high burnout rate among nurses include social and psychological support as well as empowerment. The ability of an organization to retain nurses primarily depends on the creation of an environment conductive to professional autonomy (Hatmaker, 2014, p. 227). Organizations should create an open environment where nurses have an avenue for mutual support. Examples of a program that may result in mutual support among nurses include sharing of workload among team members. Additionally, organizations should create time for social interaction among nursing teams. This can be done through social events such as annual retreats. Social events help to address the issue of burnout by building trust and strong bond between nurses (Portnoy, 2011). The other strategy for dealing with the issue of nurse burnout is supervisor support. Healthcare facilities should encourage meetings between the nurses and supervisors to talk about issues affecting their work. Apart from receiving support from their colleagues and supervisors, nurses need to be empowered. One way of empowering them is by providing them with better salaries and remuneration. The other way is by availing to them opportunities for advancing their education, such as by refunding the tuition fee. They should also be provided with an opportunity to climb the profession ladder such as through promotions. Nurses also need psychological empowerment which
Nurses often experience heavy workloads and time constraints in the workplace due to nursing shortages and a high nurse-to-patient ratio mandated by the government. Newly graduated nurses are especially prone to burnout related to greater workloads due to the increasing workload demands and no additional resources to support the nurse (Rudman & Gustavsson, 2011, p.304). This contributes to increased burnout rates in newly graduated nurses by creating role stress and adding additional time constraints and stressors to an already overwhelmed transitioning graduate nurse.
In recent years, there’s evidence to suggest that mental health nurses experience stress and burned out related to their work, Stress, as an result of stressful workplaces (Bernard et al,2000).
Burnout is termed as the exhaustion of an individual’s overall well-being. To put it simply, it is experienced when there is too much stress, generally in the work environment. This leads to emotional, mental, and physical strain, making it difficult for one to perform his or her job proficiently (Ericksen, 2015). Adriaenssens (2015) indicates, that burnout impacts emotional aspect the most. In correlation with nursing, negative effects of this ordeal include poor patient outcomes, and compromised safety for both patient and nurse. Evidently, these are precipitating factors that contribute to the deterioration of the healthcare system stemming from the direct and indirect damage that
Burnout in nursing is a convoluted and significant matter that must be acknowledged and addressed to preserve the quality and longevity of the nursing profession. With varying definitions of the term, it becomes important to identify and understand the factors and dynamics that have bearing on the nurse’s intrapersonal beliefs, emotional well-being, and ultimately the patient care they provide. Once these components are recognized, it is just as imperative to offer potential resolutions to meet this challenge. Aside from simple, personal actions that the nurse can take, such as exercise and rest, there are certain measures that if fulfilled by the nursing leadership staff will hold substantial weight when it comes to contending with burnout.
In today’s health care environment, work-related stress plays a major role in the performance of nursing professionals. The nursing profession is significantly affected by the effects of stress and this often determines the quality of care that patients receive. Work-related stress develops when an individual loses the ability to cope with increasing service demands, overwhelming responsibilities, and loss of control over their environment. Preceding research has proven that high stress levels result in more staff absences, staff turnover, diminished job satisfaction, and additional costs which in return only further exacerbates staff stress levels (Wright, 2014). Nursing managers can help to control how stress affects the staff and provide ways for the staff to cope effectively. Although nurses are responsible for maintaining their health, managers can significantly reduce stress by ensuring that the employees are well educated, internal support resources are available, and external employee assistance programs are provided. The quality of leadership and management support provided to the staff can significantly alleviate stress in the health care field (Wright, 2014). By decreasing the workload, reducing service demands, and implementing effective coping strategies, stress among nurses can be decreased and the quality of patient care will improve considerably.
One of the most serious issues in nursing, that can affect a nurses career is nursing burn- out. According to the article “Where have all the nurses gone”, current nurses that are practicing, report high rates of job dissatisfaction (which is part of burn out) and 1 of 5 nurses may quit nursing in the next 5 years (Dworkin, 2002). Burnout is associated with nurses not coming in to work, not feeling satisfied when doing their job, high turnover rates and a lack of commitment to the work (Katisfaraki, 2013). If a nurse becomes burned- out, they may not take care of their patients as well and could make mistakes with medication administration. A study performed in the United States by Dr. Jeannie Cimiottti, shows that hospitals with high burn-out rates among nurses have higher levels UTI’s, and surgical infections (World, 2012). Nursing burnout not only affects the nurse, but it also affects the patient, the nurses’ colleagues, and the nurses’ family; nursing burn out often leads to emotional exhaustion and depression, that can effect relations and communication between the nurse effected and the person they are communicating with. This paper will cover what burn-out is, who is susceptible to burn out, and treatment and prevent nursing burn out.
The nursing profession is one of the most physically, emotionally, and mentally taxing career fields. Working long shifts, placing other’s needs before your own, dealing with sickness and death on a regular basis, and working in a high stress environment are all precursors to developing occupational burnout in the nursing profession. Burnout refers to physical, emotional and mental exhaustion, which can lead to an emotionally detached nurse, who feels hopeless, apathetic, and unmotivated. Burnout extends beyond the affected nurse and begins to affect the care patients receive. Researchers have found that hospitals with high burnout rates have lower patient satisfaction scores (Aiken et al 2013). There are various measures that nurses can take
Espeland, K. E. (2006). Overcoming burnout: how to revitalize your career. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 37(4), 178-184.
The nursing profession is notorious for burnout. The place of work, scheduling, compassion fatigue and lack of support all affect the nurses’ risk of becoming burnt out. Nurses and nurse managers should be well educated on the signs of burnout in order to correct it as soon as it becomes an issue. There are many ways for nurse managers to help prevent burnout amongst their staff and there are significant benefits in reducing the burnout rate. Peery (2010, pg. 53) summarized nursing as:
Although all professions are susceptible to work-related stress, researchers have determined that the nursing profession is particularly stressful (Villani, Grassi, Cognetta, Toniolo, Cipresso, & Riva, 2013). Some argue that because of increasing demands, nurses are more susceptible to exhaustion, anxiety and stress (Aarons, & Sawitzky, 20...
Nurse Burnout and Retention becomes the result for many nurses in their medical career. A brief explanation of what a burnout actually comprises of: builds up stress, decreasing of self-esteem and performance. Nurse, as we know, play a very important role in the medical field. They are not just doctors’ assistants that follow the doctor’s wherever they go; they too have very important duties and play multiple different roles that makes it clear to many that know that their job is just as difficult as any doctor’s. Some of the responsibilities of these nurses are listed in the ANA(American Nurses Association): they perform physical exams, record the patient 's health history, provide health promotion/counseling/education, administer
In my medical career, I have been privileged to work alongside some of the most professional, dedicated, knowledgeable and compassionate nurses. I have seen first-hand the difference that they can make in a patient’s life and their family, during those unfortunate times when sickness and injury can be so overwhelming. The appreciation and respect that I have for nurses, as well as their indispensable contribution to the health care system, is what encourage me to pursue nursing as a profession.
The focus of every health care professional is the patient and the goal is to return the patient to optimum health where the patient can be independent. When the patient’s safety is being compromised it’s everyone’s job to fix the problem and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. However, there’s a dark side to nursing. The nurse is one of the few health care workers that have the most daily contact with the patient. The nurse plays a very important role in the patients care from teaching to simply being a listener while withholding any judgement. When the nurse to patient ratio isn’t balanced, it causes nurse burnout. Nurse burnout is when the nurse becomes “physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted” (Michigan, S. S. (n.d.). News.
The purpose of this study was to identify what personal and environmental factors may lead to an increase or decrease in the level of compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout that emergency department nurses experience (Hunsaker, S., et al, 2015). Results from this study revealed that there is an increase in compassion satisfaction in nurses who have graduate and doctorate levels of nursing education, compared to those who have bachelor or associate nursing degrees (Hunsaker, S., et al, 2015). Another factor that increased compassion satisfaction and decreased burnout was the length of time a nurse had been working (CITE). It was also noted that an increase in compassion satisfaction and a decrease in burnout and compassion fatigue were reported when nurses felt supported by their managers (CITE). Hunsaker, S., et al (2015) suggest the development of a mentorship program where new nurses are paired with experienced nurses, so that experienced nurses can share their wisdom and strategies in preventing compassion fatigue and burnout. Hunsaker, S., et al (2015) recommend continued research on compassion fatigue and burnout, with the hope that new research will shine a light on this growing problem. The increased awareness and development of new prevention strategies,
Life is too short to be stressed and burned out. There are several ways to help detect and reduce stress. Leaders should be aware of key tips and ideas on stress and burnout so they can prevent it from happening to their co-workers before it becomes a major issue. Leaders can avoid stress and burnout in their department by regaining balance and reassessing priorities for each individual. They should help support and encourage employees, and keep teamwork at the top of their priorities. Leaders should be aware that stress and burnout will affect them at some point, but should always remember why they became a nurse and not give up on a career that they love.