Nursing Burnout Essay

Nursing Burnout Essay

Nursing Burnout Essay

Nursing burnout refers to a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that can be the result of working in the nursing profession. It is characterized by feelings such as cynicism, hopelessness, isolation, and decreased productivity. The leading cause of nursing burnout is work-related stress. This can be caused by factors such as inadequate staffing levels, heavy patient loads, and long hours. Other contributors to nursing burnout include poor communication among nurses, unrealistic expectations of nurses from patients and families, and lack of support from managers. There are a number of strategies that can help nurses prevent or manage nursing burnout. These include taking regular breaks, delegating tasks when possible, communicating openly with coworkers and managers, and seeking for support whenever the situation becomes tough and demanding. The purpose of this assignment is to address the three major question about nursing burnout.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE ON;Nursing Burnout Essay

What May Happen to The Nurse When Role Stress or Strain

Becomes Too Overwhelming

When role stress or strain becomes too overwhelming, the nurse may experience symptoms such as headache, fatigue, anxiety, and irritability. These symptoms can lead to poor work performance and an unwillingness to continue in the profession. If the nurse’s job is causing undue stress or strain, they should consult with a supervisor to discuss possible solutions (Kim et al., 2020). The supervisor may be able to provide some relief by offering more scheduling flexibility or by delegating some of the nurse’s duties. If these solutions are not effective, the nurse may need to consider other career options.

In summary, the nurse may experience a wide range of negative emotions, including anxiety, frustration, anger, and sadness. The nurse may also feel physical symptoms such as fatigue, headache, chest pain, or nausea. If the nurse’s stress or strain becomes too overwhelming, he or she may begin to exhibit signs of burnout, including withdrawal from others, cynicism towards patients and co-workers, decreased productivity, and feelings of hopelessness. Finally, if the stress or strain continues to mount unchecked, the nurse may eventually reach a state of total exhaustion and collapse.

What May Happen to Patient Care When Role Stress or Strain Becomes Too Overwhelming and The Relationship This Has to Ethic and Legal Issues

When role stress or strain become too overwhelming, patient care may be negatively affected. Rising demands and choices placed on health care professionals can lead to greater frustration and poor job satisfaction. In addition, when staff feel overworked or unable to cope with their workload, they are more likely to make errors. This can result in patients not receiving the best possible care. steps should be taken to ensure that role stress and strain do not become too overwhelming for health care professionals. This includes providing adequate resources and support, as well as ensuring that staff have sufficient time to rest and recover between shifts (Ling et al., 2020). By taking these measures, healthcare management can help protect both the quality of patient care and the wellbeing of those who provide it.

When a healthcare worker becomes too overwhelmed, it can lead to various ethical and legal issues. For one, the worker may be more likely to make mistakes due to feeling rushed or stressed. This could lead to patient harm; this can also lead to mishandling of patient’s information. In other words, they may expose patient’s information. Additionally, if the worker feels overwhelmed and stressed out, it may lead them to become less present with their patients. This could also lead to patient harm. Finally, when a worker becomes overwhelmed, it can often lead to emotional burnout (Kim et al., 2020). This can have negative effects on both the worker’s personal life and on their professional life. For example, the worker may be less effective at their job or they may start missing work altogether.

Management Of Role Stress and Role Strain

Nurses can manage and reduce role stress and role strain in a number of ways, including by seeking support from their colleagues, taking time for themselves, and learning how to set boundaries. Nurses often feel overwhelmed by the demands of their jobs. This can lead to high levels of stress and role strain (Zaghini et al., 2020). Colleagues can be a great source of support, both professionally and emotionally. Nurses should take time for themselves each day to relax and de-stress. And finally, it is important to learn how to set boundaries so that work does not overwhelm every aspect of life.

Nurses can also engage in advocacy to increase the number of skilled nurses to manage patient care needs. This will help to reduce the workload on each nurse and make it easier for them to fulfill their roles. Another way is for nurses to develop better time management skills so that they can more efficiently complete their tasks. Lastly, nurses can work together as a team in order to support each other and reduce the overall stress levels. By taking these steps, nurses can effectively manage or reduce role stress and role strains.

Issues That Lead to Nurse Burnout and The Solution for Each Issue

Nurse burnout is a very real problem in the nursing profession. Here are two of the leading causes of nurse burnout, and some suggestions for how to address them:

1. Feeling Overworked and Underpaid

Nurses are often overworked and underpaid, which can lead to feelings of frustration and exhaustion. It is no secret that nurses are one of the most underpaid and overworked professionals in the country. This is a cause of nurse burnout. A study done by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health revealed that 61% of nurses experience high levels of payment-related stress; this stress can lead to burnout (Zaghini et al., 2020). Besides, when nurses feel like they are not receiving the salary they need or deserve, it puts a lot of pressure on them; this can often lead to nurses feeling burnt out.

The best way to combat this is to advocate for oneself and fellow nurses. Nurses can also join or create a union, speak out about the conditions they are working under, and demand better pay and benefits.

1. Unsupportive Work Environments

A hostile or unsupportive work environment can also lead to nurse burnout. This can include anything from micromanagement to bullying by co-workers. Providing nurses with more support and resources, reducing the patient caseloads, and offering more flexible scheduling options can be the best solution to address the problem of unsupportive work environments (Zaghini et al., 2020). Nurse burnout is a very real problem in the nursing profession. It occurs when nurses experience extreme stress and feelings of emotional and physical fatigue from their work. There are many other factors that can contribute to nurse burnout, such as an unsupportive work environment, high patient caseloads, inadequate staffing levels, and shift work.

Experience Strain or Burnout

One experience that comes to mind is when I was working night shift and was short-staffed. I was assigned to the medical/surgical unit and had five patients to care for. This meant that I had to do everything- meds, labs, vitals, Foley catheter changes, wound care, bathing, etc. On top of that, one of my patients was very combative and would not let me do anything without a fight. I remember feeling so overwhelmed and stressed out. I felt like I could not take a break or even go to the bathroom without someone getting mad at me. After a few nights of this, I started feeling burned out. My body was tired and my mind was foggy.

I made an effort to understand the circumstances bothering me at the time, to solve these challenges in the best way I could, with patience, and respect for everyone and everything. I made an effort to view the work as a whole, but especially the specific circumstance of the problem I was experiencing at the time. I concentrated on doing each task one at a time while paying special attention to my other responsibilities to make sure I was operating within the bounds of the law and ethics.

To overcome this situation, I tried to visualize the circumstances that were bothering me at that time, I tried to solve these challenges the best way possible, with patience, respecting everyone and everything, I tried to see the work as a whole, but especially the individual situation of that problem that I was facing at the time. I focused on doing one activity at a time while also keeping close attention to other duties to ensure that I worked within the legal and ethical requirements.

Conclusion

Nurse burnout has a significant impact on the quality of healthcare delivery processes. When nurses are burned out, they are more likely to make mistakes in patient care, which can lead to serious health complications. Nurses who are burned out also tend to be less communicative with their fellow nurses and physicians, which can lead to miscommunications and errors. In addition, burned-out nurses are more likely to call in sick or leave their jobs altogether, which can create staffing shortages and affect the quality of care that patients receive. Nurse burnout is a serious issue that should be taken seriously by hospitals and other healthcare providers. By addressing the root causes of nurse burnout, providers can help ensure that nurses are able to deliver quality healthcare to all patients.

References

Kim, L. Y., Rose, D. E., Ganz, D. A., Giannitrapani, K. F., Yano, E. M., Rubenstein, L. V., & Stockdale, S. E. (2020). Elements of the healthy work environment associated with lower primary care nurse burnout. Nursing outlook, 68(1), 14-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2019.06.018

Ling, K., Xianxiu, W., & Xiaowei, Z. (2020). Analysis of nurses’ job burnout and coping strategies in hemodialysis centers. Medicine, 99(17). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7440299/

Zaghini, F., Biagioli, V., Proietti, M., Badolamenti, S., Fiorini, J., & Sili, A. (2020). The role of occupational stress in the association between emotional labor and burnout in nurses: A cross-sectional study. Applied nursing research, 54, 151277. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnr.2020.151277

 

Write a 1000-1500 word essay addressing each of the following points/questions. Be sure to completely answer all the questions for each bullet point. There should be three main sections, one for each bullet below. Separate each section in your paper with a clear heading that allows your professor to know which bullet you are addressing in that section of your paper. Support your ideas with at least three (3) sources using citations in your essay. Make sure to cite using the APA writing style for the essay. The cover page and reference page in the correct APA do not count toward the minimum word amount. Review the rubric criteria for this assignment.

What happens to the nurse when role stress or strain becomes too overwhelming? What happens to patient care? How is this related to possible ethical and legal issues? Discuss how nurses can manage or reduce role stress and role strain.

Explain two issues that lead to nurse burnout and discuss a solution for each issue.

Think of an experience in your nursing profession where you either felt strain or burnout and how you overcame this event. (Since this is personal experience, you can use first person narration for this portion of your essay.)