Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
As health care in America continues to undergo rampant changes, nurses are presented with the task of accomplishing much more than the traditional roles of caring for patients. These challenges are increasing the incidence of role strain within the nursing profession. Role strain, according to V. Lambert and Lambert (2001), has been intellectualized as the result of incongruences in the expectations of a particular role compared to what is actually being accomplished in the role. Understanding the influence of role strain on nurses is integral to the preservation of the profession (Lambert, V., & Lambert, 2001).
Nurses in the United States have attributed manifestations of role strain to high job demands, dealing with issues of mortality, uncooperative patients and physicians, poor relationships with peers, feelings of the lack of control on the job, and shift rotations (Lambert, V., & Lambert, 2001). The following analysis will focus on the concept of role strain in nursing, and will include the definition based on the common and nursing usage, the defining characteristics, as well as a model case that encompasses the antecedents, consequences and empirical referents of role strain.
Definition of Role Strain
Mosby’s online medical dictionary defines role strain as “the stress or strain experienced by an individual when incompatible behavior, expectations, or obligations are associated with a single social role” (“role strain”, n.d.). Principally, these disparities emerge as frustration and undue stress within the nursing profession (Cranford, 2013). A global literature review conducted at Yamaguchi University School of Medicine in Japan reviewed more than 100 articles written since 1990 and established the accepted...
... middle of paper ...
...onary.thefreedictionary.com/role+strain
Santos, S., Carroll, C., Cox, K., Teasley, S., Simon, S., Bainbridge, L., … & Ott, L. (2003). Baby boomer nurses bearing the burden of care: a four-site study of stress, strain, and coping for inpatient registered nurses. Journal of Nursing Administration, 33(4), 243-250.
Schmidt, K. H., & Diestel, S. (2012). Job demands and personal resources in their relations to indicators of job strain among nurses for older people. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 69(10), 2185-2195.
Walker, L. O. & Avant, K. C. (2011). Strategies for theory construction in nursing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Zander, M., Hutton, A., & King, L. (2013). Exploring resilience in pediatric oncology nursing staff. Collegian., 20(1), 17-25. doi: http://dx.doi.org.proxy.library.ohiou.edu/10.1016/j.colegn.2012.02.002
Leiter, M. P., Price, S. L., & Spence Laschinger, H. K. (2010). Generational differences in distress, attitudes, and incivility among nurses. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(8), 970-980. Doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2834.2010.01168.x
Surveys of Canadian frontline nurses, today, show that issues with intense workload, while ensuring safe patient care are the most significant challenges they face at work on a daily basis (Berry & Curry, 2012). Research shows that a heavy nursing workload adversely affects both the patient and nurse. For example, many Registered Nurses (RN) are experiencing ethical distress because they are not able to
The process of role development goes beyond networking and taking on a new role as an APN. According to Brykczynski’s study of clinical nurse specialists, role development involves a complete makeover of one’s professional identity and the ability to integrate the seven core advanced practice competencies.1 New graduate APNs go through phases during their transitioning period, from a registered nurse to an APN; these phases include orientation, frustration, implementation, integration, frozen, reorganization and complant.2
Walker, L.O., & Avant, K.C. (2005). Strategies for theory construction in nursing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Walker, L. O., & Avant, K. C. (1995). Strategies for theory construction in nursing (3rd ed.). Norwalk, CT:
Zerwekh, J., Claborn, J. (2006). Nursing today: Transitions and trends (pp. 343-346). St. Louis, Missouri:
Working in long-term care can be overwhelming. Imagine you are a new graduate nurse putting your new found knowledge and skills to practice for the first time. Your orientation lasted three days which is standard for nurse home orientation compared to hospital orientation that last approximately six to eight weeks for new grads. The shift has just begun and already you have a new admit, new found pressure ulcer to assess, a possible medication reaction, several new orders to take off and eight patients to document on for varying reasons. Feelings of frustration and confusion take over as you are the only nurse on the unit along with a Certified Medication Technician (CMT) and three Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) taking care of 47 patients. Ideal nurse-to-patient ratio continues to be a national issue in both the hospital and long-term care setting (LTC). In the LTC setting there is no official nurse-to-patient ratio; there is a suggested staff-to-patient ratio. This issue not only affects the new licensed nurses but the seasoned nurse as well. Recently, there has been controversial debates as to whether heavy workloads are detrimental to patients. The federal, state, and local government regulates many aspects of healthcare. However, it is the physicians, nurses and other healthcare professional that provide care directly to patients. Consequently, does insufficient staffing, heavy workloads, and unsupportive work environment directly contribute to poor patient satisfaction, nurse burnout, high turnover and job dissatisfaction?
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
The nursing theories that are currently in place in the emergency room to promote professional growth and development are vital; however, there are other nursing theories that could be implemented to help improve professional growth and development. A theory that should be implemented to more effectively promote professional growth and development is Orem’s theory of self-care deficit. Orem’s theory is considered a “realistic reflection on nursing practice” (McEwen & Wills, 2014, p. 146). If the nurse is not taking care of him or herself, “stress [can] accumulate [and the] nurse can … become angry, exhausted, depressed, and sleepless” (Ruff & Hoffman, 2016, p. 8). By the nurse having these feelings he or she is not able to take care of him
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 prolonged shortage of skilled nursing personnel has been a serious concern to the healthcare industry, and this shortage has impacted the quality of care delivery. In addition, nursing turnover has also exacerbated the problem of nursing shortage. Nursing shortage has been blamed on many nurses retiring and less younger nurses joining the occupation. There is also an increase in life expectancy (baby boomers) leading an increase in both physical and mental ailment with subsequent demand in nursing care. Nurses are also leaving nursing profession because of inadequate staffing, tense work environment, negative press about the profession, and inflexible work schedules. Even though nursing is a promising career and offers job security, 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
To complete this concept analysis, the concept was defined and a literature search was performed. For the purposes of the paper, role stress was the concept and it was defined as “any physical or psychological strain experienced by an individual, who needs greater abilities or resources than available, in order to perform the role which has revealed disparity to the expected role currently being practiced, through an appraisal” (Riahi, 2011, pg. 1). 725). These tools are not great for primary prevention needs (Riahi, 2011). Model Case A model case is an example that uses the concept and combines all the defining attributes of that concept and presented in the literature is the case of Nurse Sarah and nurse Joe.
Worldwide, nurses have developed themselves into professionals with a great deal of knowledge. Despite these developments towards professionalism, nurses are still portrayed in a misleading and inaccurate way and are not given the recognition for the skills they have acquired. The essence of nursing is not always clear and nurses still suffer from stereotypes (Hoeve,2014). A stereotype can be defined as “a cognitive representation or impression of a social group that people form by associating particular characteristics and emotions with a group” (Smith and Mackie, 2007). Of the many types of nursing, a very popular stereotype that is depicted of nurses is being doctor’s handmaiden and only performing repetitive and simple tasks (Hoeve,2014.) This public image of nursing does not match their professional images, in fact, it is quite the opposite. Nurses are strong independent individuals that play just as big a role in the hospital as due the doctors or surgeons. The problem is nurses are not depicted as professionals and the public is not aware that nursing today is very theory-based oriented and a scholarly profession. Over the last few decades, nursing gone through extensive and important
A high workload has negative implications for nurses as well. Consequences of heavy workload include stress, burnout, and dissatisfaction, thus affecting motivation for quality patient care. Furthermore, nursing overload was also associated with increased absenteeism (as cited in Fasoli & Haddock, 2010, p. 2).