Hans Selye said, “It is not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” Stress can cause it’s victims to suffer from emotional and physical anguish. If stress occurs for prolonged periods of time with little to no reprieve it can result in serious and sometimes fatal health problems. It is ironic that stress can lead to major health concerns, yet some of the most stressed people are those in the healthcare profession. According to an article from the Nursing Standard, stress is a leading cause of illness and depression among nurses (Jones-Berry, 2013). Several studies have shown that there is a direct link between stress, depression and illness and often times nurses fall victim to this link because of poor work environments and a lack of appropriate sick leave to tend to their own needs. Research has shown that stress amidst nurses is directly related to depression and illness; therefore, hospitals need to take actions necessary to decrease stress and promote well-being among their nursing staff.
Work-related or occupational stress is defined as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demands placed on them at work,” (Burke, 2013). Nurses are exposed to high levels of occupational stress as a result of heavy workloads, extended working hours and high levels of time pressure (Tsai & Liu, 2012). Demanding work environments place a great deal of pressure on nurses to get their tasks done without allowing them sufficient control and support to manage those demands. According to one study, lack of decision-making authority and a deficit of social support from supervisors is directly associated with the development of stress-related symptoms (Tsai & Liu, 2012). Such a work environment causes a...
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Show MoreIn 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).
After the introduction of an overall senior management the presented nurse advisor Sarah now has to deal with a number of different tasks like more paperwork or cleaning that do not fit to her profession. Furthermore, she is having her breaks in isolation and she needs authorisation if she wants to order small items like bandages because the management thinks this is more efficient and cost-effective. But on the other hand, unqualified casual workers are authorised to hand out medication to the patients. As a result of changes in law, Sarah also has to take care of 15 instead of 8 high care patients which is a way bigger workload. This role ambiguity, role conflict, isolation, the lack of authority and a bigger workload are the factors which Colligan & Higgins (2006) pointed out as the factors that lead to workplace stress. Obviously, a change in Sarah’s mental state in response to the workplace stress is already taking place as she is less motivated, unhappy and already starts to think of finding another job. Therewith, there are also negative consequences like absenteeism, lower productivity and poor decision-making appearing which also affect MV Health.
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.
Health care workers experience adverse effects from occupational stress. This type of stress is detrimental to the workers, patients, and the hospital itself. To respond to this ongoing problem, stress felt by workers should be reported, and treatment should be provided by the hospital. This will help reduce or ultimately eliminate occupational stress by deducing the sources that are causing or contributing to the stress, and by offering treatment options, it will alleviate the burden felt by workers. Hospital policy should enstate a mandatory session where they can discuss signs of occupational stress and the available treatment options. This will go a long way towards creating positive work environments, and interactions. This hospital policy,
Recent literature reports that there is a nursing shortage and it is continually increasing. Data released by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (2011) projects that the shortage, would increase to 260,000 by the year 2025. AACN (2011) also reported that 13% of newly registered nurses changed jobs and 37% were ready to change within a year. A study conducted reports that there is a correlation between higher nursing workloads and nurse burnout, retention rates, job dissatisfaction and adverse patient outcomes (Vahey & Aiken, 2004). Among the nurses surveyed in the study, over 40% stated that they were suffering from burnout while 1 in 5 nurses intended
Vargus, Crsitina , Guillermro A. Canadas, Raimundo Aguayo, Rafael Fernandez, and Emilia I. de la Fuente. "Which occupational risk factors are associated with burnout in nursing? A meta-analytic study." International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology 14.1 (2014): 28-38. Ebscohost. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Nurses are the largest and the most trusted professional group in the health care system. They are highly educated and skilled in their areas of practice. However, today’s nurses are experiencing an ever increasing workload, which negatively impacts their ability to deliver safe patient care (Berry & Curry, 2012). This paper explores four published journals that report on survey results on nursing workload and their direct correlation with patient care outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to address the ongoing nursing workload issues and explore the reasons behind it.
People are living longer and healthier lives now more than ever before. Much of this can be attributed to the advances in modern medicine over the past few decades. However, in healthcare, there is now a growing population of patients that are becoming sicker and more complex to care for. With the new generation of sick patients present in the hospitals, today’s nurses are stressed and fatigued more than ever before. Much of the stress and fatigue can be attributed to the nurse to patient ratio and the associated workload.
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
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.
Nursing is a very demanding job and can have an overall impact on the nurse both mentally and physically. Specifically within the critical care environment, nurses are more likely at risk for developing job burnout, due to the intense nature of their work. Job burnout is a type of job stress in which the state of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion is combined with doubts about the competence and value of your work, (Mayo Clinic, 2015). The specific burnout that the nurse may be experiencing is not only affecting them, but also their patient they are looking after. It is critical for us, as nurses, to be able to recognize the warning signs of burnout and find ways in which to take steps in order to address them, in order to improve the
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
Factors such as, heavy workloads, stress, job dissatisfaction, frequent medical errors, and intention of leaving the job are all common for nurses to experience, especially during the nursing shortage crisis. Not only do the nurses suffer during a shortage, but the patients ' health outcomes suffer even more. For instance, there are higher rates of infectious diseases and adverse patient outcomes, such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), upper gastrointestinal bleeding, shock, pneumonia, prolonged hospital stays, failure to rescue, and mortality. As a result, this leads to higher re-admission rates for patients. Furthermore, high patient-to-nurse ratios cause heavy workloads due to an inadequate supply of nurses, an increased demand for nurses, a reduction in staffing and an increase in overtime, and a shortened length of stay for patients. Without the heavy workloads that nurses have to endure on a daily basis, there would more time for nurses to communicate more effectively with physicians, insurance companies, and patients and their families. Those heavy workloads are the result of hospitals reducing the nursing staff and implementing mandatory overtime policies just to meet unexpectedly high demands. Unfortunately, the nursing shortage has affected nurses ' mental and physical health. For example, the most common health concerns for nurses include cardiovascular health, occupational injuries and illnesses, and emotional and physical exhaustion. Therefore, safe-staffing ratios/levels have to become the main
Poghosyan, Clarke, Finlayson, and Aiken (2010) in a cross-national comparative research explored the relationship between nurses’ burnout and the quality of care in 53,846 nurses from six countries. Their researched confirmed that nurses around the world experience burnout due to increase workload. Burnout was manifested as fatigue, irritability, insomnia, headaches, back pain, weight gain, high blood pressure, and depression. Burnout influenced nurses’ job performance, lowered patient satisfaction, and it was significantly associated with poor quality of care. Patient safety decreased as nurses’ job demands
Work place or occupational stress refers to any form of restrain that is experienced when there is no match between job demands and the output of the worker. The article ‘Occupational stress’ aims at showing ways in which stress people get from their work place affect them and what causes the stress. This condition may encompass many conditions that include maladaptive behavior, psychological disorders, cognitive impairment, as well as emotional strain. These conditions lead to poor performances at work, injuries, or biological reactions that in turn may compromise the health of the employee.