Essay On Nurse Burnout

Any work environment can have stressful aspects that can negatively affect an employee’s performance. Oftentimes when employees are stressed, burnt out or dealing with compassion fatigue, their commitment at their job may begin to weaken and they may lose job satisfaction (Harris & Griffon, 2015). All health care providers are at a major risk for compassion fatigue and burnout, especially registered nurses because they are the leading care giver for patients. Nurses are empathetic and compassionate; it’s a main trait of the profession (Harris & Griffon, 2015). Nurses are experts at juggling tasks and putting the needs of others before themselves every day. There are many factors that can contribute to the development

Like compassion fatigue, it has physical and psychological elements, as well a decline in motivation (Rushton, Batcheller, Schroeder & Donohue, 2015). Burnout can be described as repetitive exposure to traumatic events, such as severe injuries, death, suicide, suffering, and individual reaction to chronic stress at work which are characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment (Rushton, Batcheller, Schroeder & Donohue, 2015; Adriaessens, De Gucht & Maes, 2015 ). The first characteristic of emotional exhaustion is defined as when employees feel they are no longer capable to provide good, quality care which can result in extreme energy loss and feeling drained out (Adriaessens, De Gucht & Maes, 2015). The second characterization of depersonalization is described as one loses all sense of identity, and develops negative feelings and behaviours (Adriaessens, De Gucht & Maes, 2015). Lastly, reduced personal accomplishment is defined as lack of emotion regarding both occupation, personal, and failure attaining goals (Adriaessens, De Gucht & Maes, 2015). Harris & Griffin (2015) state that burnout can be provoked by, “increased workplace demands, increasing healthcare expectations in general, lack of resources, interpersonal stressors, and organizational policy leading to diminished caring, cynicism and effectiveness” (p. 82). Such

Such risks can lead to substance abuse, depression, anxiety, disengagement, decrease job satisfaction, and probability of quitting (Sekol & Kim, 2014). A study reported that illness related absenteeism was 58% higher than the overall labour force, as well as a high level of burnout within hospital nurses (Laschinger, Wong & Grau, 2013). Nurse burnout not only results in decreased health outcomes, but also a decrease in quality of care that patients receive (Laschinger, Wong & Grau, 2013). Such care includes; inadequate nursing professionalism, medical errors, and poor judgement (Harris & Griffon, 2015). Among other factors, high patient contact and patients with severe problems have an impact on contributing to burnout and compassion fatigue. One study found that working on overcrowded wards was linked to antidepressant use by nurses; and the higher the bed occupancy of the ward, the more likely the use of antidepressants (Firth-Cozens & Cornwell, 2010). Moreover, increased patient workload was found to link to compassion fatigue and burnout (Firth- Cozens & Cornwell,