Professor Cantu and Class,
The first article is, Patient Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses. Chapter 34 “Handoffs: Implications for Nurses”, this article is applicable not only to my unit, but every nurse in the profession. It is imperative that the translation of patient information from one person to the next during shift change, patient transfer, or transfer to another facility is clear, accurate, understandable, and complete conveying all pertinent information about that patient. The article discusses why we have problems with handoffs, and different methods for handoff styles. There is no specific hand-off tool that is universal. With that being said it is important that research continues so that possibly in the
The title caught my attention: “Work Environment and Conditions”. The nurse’s role has long been considered as stress-filled based upon the physical labor, human suffering, work hours, staffing, and interpersonal relationships that are central to the work nurses do. The article examined many studies conducted to measure stress and burnout in nurses and found that the environment and conditions in the work place have a great deal to do with the perceived stress levels. In the article, it speaks of the definition of stress as being a negative factor that is perceived to pose a threat to the perceiver. This definition goes on to state that one person may see an event as stressful while another may view the same situation as exhilarating. The important part of this “new definition” is that we can chose, by manipulation of our attitudes, to view our lives as stress filled or an enjoyable ride? One’s perception is a big factor regarding workplace stress. I notice that newer nurses feel a great amount of pressure to do things perfectly, which anyone who has been in nursing a while can tell you that nursing is an imperfect profession. We are humans caring for other humans and we are all just doing the best that we can and what is in the best interest of our patients. Maintaining a positive attitude is important, and challenging at times. Even though the environment that many of us work in is controlled, good or bad many of the things that occur are beyond our control. Learning to go with the flow and ask for help when needed can make nursing a little bit less overwhelming. I think it is important for nurses experiencing burnout to talk to someone about it and maybe think about making a change in their workplace if possible to obtain a new challenge and help keep nursing fresh and exciting for them. I also find it interesting that as nurses, we are so prone to
Identifying the handoff practices currently in use will demonstrate the endeavor to examine options and recommend approaches for the future. Diverse forms of handoffs at different occasions for a large group of physicians, medical residents, nurses, allied health professionals and student clinicians from different disciplines have created inconsistencies. Besides, the bedside shift report has impacted patient and family satisfaction with the continuum of care. Examining a number of models, protocols, tools, standards and trends concerning patient-centered handoffs will highlight implications for the best practice. Recommendation for safer and more effective handoffs to improve practice and reach sustainable outcomes will be discussed to promote multidisciplinary approaches for patient-centered care. The transfer of critical information and accountability for patient care from one clinician to another is an essential component of communication in
Nurses Joe and Sarah have been working in a medical surgical unit that has been experiencing a nursing shortage, which has led to an increase in the workload. Sarah has been feeling the physical effects of the stress and feels there is a lack of management support, while Joe experiences some feelings of being overwhelmed, but tries to use it as learning experiences. Joe has developed positive methods of coping, while Sarah is quickly heading towards burnout. Implications and Conclusions The information provided in the literature has great implications for practice in many units, including the writers. It is with great hopes that the research published can be presented to the committees on the unit in hopes that some of the workloads can be decreased to help with staffing and retention rates.
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.
...n each patient room. Nurses can write their own names or when their shift is coming to an end, the name of the next staff member, as well as a reminder of what time rounds will next take place. This white board could also help with communication between nurses and care coordination which is another important element to implement into the Must Haves program. As patient safety has become an increasingly important issue in healthcare, nursing’s role in contributing to safety has become more important as well.
Burnout is a highly unusual type of stress disorder that is essentially characterized by emotional exhaustion, lack of empathy with patients, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of personal accomplishments. The nature of the work that healthcare practitioners perform predisposes them to emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, the lack of empathy towards patients is caused by the nurses feeling that they are underpaid and unappreciated. Numerous researches have associated burnout with the increasing rate of nurse turnover. This paper explores the causes of burnouts in nurses as well as what can be done to prevent the them.
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
In 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).
In order to safely deliver competent care, a nurse must be armed with all of the pertinent information about a patient. Breakdowns in communication have been known to cause adverse and sentinel events, making it extremely important for nurses to pass on relevant information at shift change in a timely manner. Although no known best practice currently exists for communication during patient handovers, various strategies have been implemented and studied. One strategy to attempt to improve the quality and delivery of end of shift report in a timely manner includes the employment of a standardized template to complement verbal patient handovers. In an experimental study by Wilson (2007), she implied that the initiation of a standardized
This report explores the importance of communication between nurses, providers and different departments play a crucial role in the safety of quality of patient care and their future health outcomes. When nurses give improper handoff’s the patient and the next nurse on shift will be left at a disadvantage. This can lead to further health complications and longer hospital stays for the patients and possibly death. The fairly new bedside shift report has been proven to catch mistakes during report and improve care in the hospital and for the future overall health of the client.
The registered nurse supervises the delegation by monitoring performance with the standards of practice, policies and procedures. Monitoring varies with the needs of the patient and the experience of the team members. The nurse contemplates the health status of the patients, the geographic design of the unit, the availability of resources, the complexity of the task and feedback from the licensed practical nurse and the nursing assistant. Agreed scheduled checkpoints throughout the shift essentially ensure timely intervention and follow up on concerns. Evaluating the patient’s condition and how the team is handling their tasks results in positive patient outcomes (Yoder-Wise,
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
Maxson, P. M., Derby, K. M., Wrobleski, D. M., & Foss, D. M. (2012). Bedside Nurse-to-Nurse Handoff Promotes Patient Safety. MEDSURG Nursing, 21(3), 140-145
Notwithstanding, there is an increasing demand for ways of improving handover practices (AHRQ, 2009) with the aim of reducing the risk of miscommunication, misinterpretation and the omission of critical patient information. However, there is a lack of evidence on the most effective process for conducting a structured handover process (Robertson et al., 2014) and evidence to support decisions on the effectiveness of nursing handover styles in an inter or intra ward/unit transfer of patient information (Smeulers et al., 2014). Furthermore, there is a lack of evidence to support the use of educational interventions to improve handovers such as formal training in handover practices in the training institution (Gordon and Findley, 2011).
Workplace stress and burnout is one of the leading problems in healthcare workers today. Stress is a mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances. Healthcare leaders today have to meet so many demanding needs and responsibilities. We ask why does stress and burnout play such an important role in today’s society. There are many reasons why it plays an important role in our everyday work and life. There have been studies on ways to detect, prevent, and decrease stress and burnout.
Since people are always dealing with certain changes in their lives, they are always dealing with some type of stress. One of the biggest growing issues with stress is stress in the workplace. According to Northwestern National Life, one-fourth of employees view their jobs as the number one stressor in their lives (“Stress at Work,” 1999).... ... middle of paper ...