What is the Experience of Burnout Syndrome for Mental Health Nurses?

This research proposal is a literature review designed to answer the question “what is the experience of burnout syndrome for mental health nurses?” In order to answer this question, background information will be gathered by the way of the literature review and the essential points will be discussed under the appropriate headings. Under the heading the concept of burnout there is a discussion on workplace pressure and workplace stress which leads into a discussion on the concept of the burnout syndrome and the deteriorating effects it has on a number of mental health nurses. Under the heading the phenomenology of depersonalization and derealization is a discussion relative to these concepts with particular mention concerning the role of uncompensated stress that many mental health nurses experience. In this particular section mention is made of some researches attributing depersonalization and derealization to a possible more complex syndrome than what was first thought and suggest that it may be an umbrella term for more complex bodily experiences and it may require further study.

Research question

The research question is what is the experience of burnout is for mental health nurses?

Yousefy & Ghassemi, (2006) write that high levels of stress and burnout are endemic to mental health nursing, the reasons for which are many, but predominately emotional stress, consumer aggression and hostility. By establishing the nature of the burnout experience it may then be possible to develop effective interventions that will allow the mental health nurse to deliver quality care to the consumer and at the same time establishing emotional boundaries that will help protect the nurse and her/his own mental stability and well-being...

... middle of paper ...

...nurses and is intended to answer the question what is the experience of burnout for Mental Health Nurses? It has been found that mental health nurses experience higher level of stress related burnout when compared to other disciplines of nursing. Burnout is characterised by emotional exhaustion and depersonalization accompanied by derealization which is qualitative change in consciousness and a perceived feeling of a lack of personal accomplishments. This is often attributed to the hours being worked and the impact of nursing emotionally charged consumers. Many nurses have learned to recognise and counteract the development of stress by having a balanced view of both their working and personal lives. However, for a number of nurses the emotion of stress overwhelms the nurse’s capability to counteract stress and the nurse, unable to cope, succumbs to the insidious