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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. INTRODUCTION
We need to be aware that all stress is not negative. Selye a famous psychologist held for two categories of stress, namely good or desirable stress (eustress) and bad or undesirable stress (distress). Eustress is pleasant, or at least challenging, and it always produced maximization of output. It is evident that without this positive inner stimuli no one can be effective in ones life. Distress is something negative and has no capacity to monitor or control a stress filled event in ones life. Here one fails to control oneself and become a slave to stress causing distress and loss to oneself and to the organization he or she belongs. A physical or psychological response is mandatory to occur stress in any living being. (Middleton, 2009).
Occupational stress among the health professionals has been a global problem for years now. It can have an adverse mental and physical health consequences and can lead to decreased satisfaction with one's job. For a small group of employees it can even lead to a burnout and sick leaves. Job stress thus has not only negative consequences on themselves, but also for the organization they work. Estimates are that 10% of the Gross National Product in European countries is lost due to stress related absenteeism and turnover. Although absenteeism' in health care is declining the past few years, it is still high compared to other stressful occupational settings such as education, catering industry or transport (Roy, 2010)
The researcher has carried out this study in a private hospital in India named Jubilee Memorial Hospital Thiruvananthapuram. In this study the researcher has focused on the occupational stress of the nurses. ...
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...luded. In this section the researcher will closely examine the connection between the objectives, reviewed literature and the findings.
Chapter -5: The last section of this research report is recommendation and relevant conclusion.
1.14. CONCLUSION
In the modern era, nursing profession is a stressful occupation. This study will critically analyse various sources of the occupational stress of the Nurses and its negative impact on their profession. It is definite that future interventions to prevent stress in nurses will be offered as a standard part of a benefit package within all health care organizations. The researcher is optimistic that the Nursing profession will have decreased amount of stress and a well developed increased coping mechanism which will in turn increase job satisfaction and increased quality work performance in Nursing Care.
Purcell, S.R., Kutash, M., & Cobb, S. (2011). The relationship between nurses’ stress and nurse staffing factors in a hospital setting. Journal of Nursing Management, 19, 714-720.
The major one is the stress faced by the newly qualified nurses. Stress arises mainly due to expectations, role stress or role overload, lack of support and difficulty in obtaining permanent position post formal education (Christopher, 2016 & Martin and Wilson, 2011).
Nurses need to be physically and mentally able to deliver their duties to ensure the safety and health of those they care for. Thus, occupational stress among nurses is significant.
The article examined many studies conducted to measure stress and burnout in nurses and found that the environment and conditions in the workplace have a great deal to do with the perceived stress levels. In the article, it speaks of the definition of stress as being a negative factor that is perceived to pose a threat to the perceiver. This definition goes on to state that one person may see an event as stressful, while another may view the same situation as exhilarating. The important part of this “new definition” is that we can choose, by manipulation of our attitudes, to view our lives as stress filled or an enjoyable ride. One’s perception is a big factor in workplace stress.
In conclusion, the above research analysis explained many contributing factors to stress and burnout and its effect on performance. As expected from prior studies, job satisfaction has an effect on productivity and/or burnout. Burnout in US nurses has been linked to Philippine nurses, despite a difference in health-care systems. Gender has also proven to be a contributing factor to stress. Women have a significant level of stress compared to men due to additional work of housework and childcare. Women also are linked to low levels of emotional exhaustion with co-worker support. Finally, perception organizational support has been linked to emotional exhaustion, but not solely due to the organization. Hopefully, organizations will continue to adopt stress reducing programs and recognize that it has many contributing factors.
There are different ways in which one can experience stress and it is important to remember that stress is an essential part of life. Not all stressful situations are negative. Receiving a promotion at work, the birth of a child or taking a trip can all be stressful but are not threatening. The reason why one may see these situations as stressful is because they may feel unprepared to deal with them. To eliminate confusion and misuse of words Hans Selye gave names to the different types of stress one may experience, he described damaging or unpleasant experiences as distress and pleasurable or satisfying experiences are called eustress (Rice, 2012).
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.
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
Nurses Joe and Sarah have been working in a medical surgical unit that has been experiencing a nursing shortage, which has led to an increase in the workload. Sarah has been feeling the physical effects of the stress and feels there is a lack of management support, while Joe experiences some feelings of being overwhelmed, but tries to use it as learning experiences. Joe has developed positive methods of coping, while Sarah is quickly heading towards burnout. Implications and Conclusions The information provided in the literature has great implications for practice in many units, including the writers. It is with great hopes that the research published can be presented to the committees on the unit in hopes that some of the workloads can be decreased to help with staffing and retention rates.
Happell, Martin, and Pinikahana (2007) also argue in their research that “despite the strength of discourse and debate in relation to stress and burnout in psychiatric nursing, limited research has been conducted in this area” (p. 40). Although a handful of studies (Cañadas et al., 2013, Dickinson and Wright, 2008; Happell, Martin, and Pinikahana, 2007, Ewers et al., 2001) agree that burnout reduces employee effectiveness which can compromise quality of care provided for the patient, there is still little research and support in this
Stress is defined as “any circumstance that threatens or is perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby tax one’s coping abilities” (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 72). Stress is a natural event that exists literally in all areas of one’s life. It can be embedded in the environment, culture, or perception of an event or idea. Stress is a constant burden, and can be detrimental to one’s physical and mental health. However, stress can also provide beneficial effects; it can satisfy one’s need for stimulation and challenge, promote personal growth, and can provide an individual with the tools to cope with, and be less affected by tomorrow’s stress (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 93).
Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example. This good kind of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, stress is often not helpful and can even be harmful when not managed effectively. Stress could make a salesperson buckle under the pressure while trying to make a sales pitch at an important business meeting, for example. Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress.
The first type of stress is eustress which is a positive stress. Positive stress may enhance the good feelings of stressors. According to Meenakshisundaram (2012), eustress is an interesting stress and keep us more essential. Indeed, this type of stress can energize, motivate and raise stressors up in difficulties instead of improve their health. For example, events such as getting married, having a child may increase the motivation of the stressors to the pleasureable.
Everyday, there are workers who come home from their jobs with a high amount of health issues. Headaches, aching muscles, exhaustion, and many more health issues have workers wondering why this is happening. All of these symptoms can be linked to stress in the workplace. Job stress has become more of a problem than ever before. Numerous studies show that job stress is the major source of stress for American adults and that it has escalated progressively over the past few decades (“Workplace Stress,” 2004).