Managing Stress to Prevent Burnout
| | Managing Stress in the Professional Nurse to Prevent Burnout | |
|
Caring for others is a vital part of nursing, but sometimes the demands can be crushing.
A nurse can become emotionally and /or physically exhausted, sometimes to the point where the nurse may stop working. The phenomenon described is nursing burnout. This paper will include facts and causes of burnout, individual & environmental factors contributing to burnout, ways to manage and decrease burnout and most importantly burnout prevention.
Review of the Professional Nursing Literature
Facts & Causes of Burnout
Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long term exhaustion and diminished interest. “Burnout is not the result of stress, but of mismanaged stress” (Roberts, 1997, p. 284). Nursing is not a field where guessing or mediocre work is acceptable. Nursing requires accuracy, dedication, skill and professionalism. Nurses have high expectations of themselves while patients and physicians expect perfection and quality care. Demands and high expectations lead to stress and burnout.
Fewer nurses mean more work for all. Inadequate staffing results in events that is doomed to failure resulting not only in the loss of energy, burnout and disengagement, but also eventual loss of nurses. Many nurses feel overburdened by heavy patient loads and the increasing intensity of service that sicker patients require (Gelinas, 2003). Due to our economy and strict insurance guidelines, patients are not seeking medical care early, resulting in sicker and more critical patients. The poor economy has resulted in lower salaries, less annual salary increase, job losses and less funding for education. Today there is a higher demand for education status. Not only are nurses working 8-12 hour shifts, caring for their family and children but now having to find the time to advance their education. The balances are hard to find, but without balance stress and burnout is inevitable
|
Caring for others is a vital part of nursing, but sometimes the demands can be crushing.
A nurse can become emotionally and /or physically exhausted, sometimes to the point where the nurse may stop working. The phenomenon described is nursing burnout. This paper will include facts and causes of burnout, individual & environmental factors contributing to burnout, ways to manage and decrease burnout and most importantly burnout prevention.
Review of the Professional Nursing Literature
Facts & Causes of Burnout
Burnout is a psychological term for the experience of long term exhaustion and diminished interest. “Burnout is not the result of stress, but of mismanaged stress” (Roberts, 1997, p. 284). Nursing is not a field where guessing or mediocre work is acceptable. Nursing requires accuracy, dedication, skill and professionalism. Nurses have high expectations of themselves while patients and physicians expect perfection and quality care. Demands and high expectations lead to stress and burnout.
Fewer nurses mean more work for all. Inadequate staffing results in events that is doomed to failure resulting not only in the loss of energy, burnout and disengagement, but also eventual loss of nurses. Many nurses feel overburdened by heavy patient loads and the increasing intensity of service that sicker patients require (Gelinas, 2003). Due to our economy and strict insurance guidelines, patients are not seeking medical care early, resulting in sicker and more critical patients. The poor economy has resulted in lower salaries, less annual salary increase, job losses and less funding for education. Today there is a higher demand for education status. Not only are nurses working 8-12 hour shifts, caring for their family and children but now having to find the time to advance their education. The balances are hard to find, but without balance stress and burnout is inevitable
References: Dollard, M. W. (2003). Occupational stress in the service professions. London: Taylor and Francis. Edelwich, J. &. (1980). Burn-out:Stages of Disillusionment in the Helping Proffession. New York: Human Sciences Press , 4. Lillee Gelinas, R. M. (2003, October 1). Staffing the Suite. EndoNurse , p. 1. Maslach, C. &. (1986). The Maslach Brun-Out Inventory Manual (2nd edn). Palo Alto: CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. Maslach, C. &. (1997). The Truth about Burnout. New York, Jossey- Bass , 1. Maslach, C. S. (2001). Job Burnout. Annual Review of Psychology , 397-422. Roberts, G. A. (1997). Prevention of Burn-out. Advances in Psychiatric Treatment , 282-289. Vincent, M. (1983). Some Sequelae of Stress. Psychiatric Journal of the University of Ottawa , 120-128.