Healthcare professionals often work in difficult conditions and have to take moral decisions all the time. This situation puts them at a great risk of suffering mental problems and stress related diseases. The current review will address the problems that the researcher can find from the available literature sources. These sources include peer reviewed research journal articles as well as published books by renowned scholars. There are also web links that have been reviewed here as well. The review starts with taking a look at stress as a risk factor when perform work activities and then moves on to all the important themes that give information in relation to the effects of the workplace stress especially on healthcare workers. 3.1 Search …show more content…
Workplace environment is a huge factor in mental and physical illness of the healthcare workers. Healthcare workers are expected to function without making any mistakes for long periods of time which can cause a burn-out. Occupational stressors are very common in healthcare workers. Low social support, high workload and the uncertainty of their patient’s health can also cause them to develop occupational stress. Emotional exposure from their jobs have even lead some workers to commit suicide or in other cases to change their career paths. In the last 35 years the healthcare workers stress has increased significantly, globally 19-30% of healthcare workers are stressed and others are physically ill from the workload of their jobs according to an article. The death of the patients can also be a negative impact on a healthcare worker’s mental health. The healthcare institutes are finding ways to lower the stress of their workers in order to ensure that their employees live a more happy and relaxed life overall(Bryant, et al., …show more content…
The stress they suffer sometimes reaches an extreme level which hinders their ability to function properly. Healthcare industry demands a unique set of skills that can withstand long periods of work without tiring. The industry expects the employees to achieve high standards even when they don’t have enough time or support to do that. These causes create immense pressure on the employees which leads to stress or physical illness. The employees are burned out in long periods of work. These factors discourage the healthcare employees to continue working and in some cases the employees quit their jobs since they can’t handle the stress from their
In the recent years, organizations have paid extra attention to employee stress and its effect on job performance. Burnout, an outcome of stress is known to cause individual, family and organizational problems and health conditions such as insomnia and hypertension. The question many ask is where does it originate from? And, how supported are the employees by the organization? Researchers have attempted to link stress and burnout and its effect on job performance. This research analysis includes different scholarly studies done and that found many contributing factors such as job satisfaction, work and family demands, work environment, and culture.
The concept of moral distress can be defined in a number of different ways. Generally speaking, when individuals make moral decisions about the right course of action in a situation but are unable to carry it out, they will experience moral distress. A man by the name of Andrew Jameton defined moral distress in 1984 as “a phenomenon that arises when one knows the right thing to do, but institutional constraints make it nearly impossible to pursue the right course of action” (Nursing Forum, 2007). Because of their particular position in the medical world and their conflicting responsibilities, nurses are especially prone to experiencing moral distress. Whether they are aware of it or not, nurses are becoming more and more involved in making ethical decisions regarding their patients. However, the doctor’s policy always rules over the nurse and the patient’s wishes must always be respected. The consequences of not being heard by fellow co-workers or having your plan of action overruled by other policies can often be frustrating and upsetting for a nurse. While there is no data that directly connects the effects of moral distress and the quality of care nurses give, it can be inferred that the feelings of moral outrage, frustration, and anger cause nurses to care for patients in a less effective way. A nurse who is at conflict with him/herself and those that surround him/her will experience difficulties in treating a patient with the best care.
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 article examined many studies conducted to measure stress and burnout in nurses and found that the environment and conditions in the workplace 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 choose, by manipulation of our attitudes, to view our lives as stress filled or an enjoyable ride. One’s perception is a big factor in workplace stress.
Nurses need to be physically and mentally able to deliver their duties to ensure the safety and health of those they care for. Thus, occupational stress among nurses is significant.
When one initially chooses a career path, one rarely looks at all the negatives that may be associated with that choice. Most career paths have some negatives associated with the field, but few face the moral dilemmas associated with modern healthcare. Those who choose to be in the healthcare profession today are faced with moral and ethical dilemmas that would make King Solomon tear his hair out. In many cases, doctors, and sometimes nurses, are faced with life and death decisions without the benefit of knowing the patient’s, or the patient’s family’s, wishes. However, aside from those tragic times when a patient’s wishes are unknown, healthcare professionals must always put their own morals aside, and act
Burnout is termed as the exhaustion of an individual’s overall well-being. To put it simply, it is experienced when there is too much stress, generally in the work environment. This leads to emotional, mental, and physical strain, making it difficult for one to perform his or her job proficiently (Ericksen, 2015). Adriaenssens (2015) indicates, that burnout impacts emotional aspect the most. In correlation with nursing, negative effects of this ordeal include poor patient outcomes, and compromised safety for both patient and nurse. Evidently, these are precipitating factors that contribute to the deterioration of the healthcare system stemming from the direct and indirect damage that
Understaffing is one of the prominent problems that hospitals and healthcare facilities are facing. Hospitals and healthcare facilities argue that they do not have enough budget to hire nurses to care for patients. While some say that there are not enough nurses here in the United States to hire. Also, hospital administrators think that hiring extra workers is not economically right. However, nurses and staffs disagree. When facilities do not have enough staff, it is the workers, especially the nurses that are having a hard time. They are the one that are suffering from overworking and pressure which leads to mistakes that will affect the hospital’s reputation and patient’s health. Nurses are here to care and nurture a patient and therefore
We, as people in the workforce, are depended on to follow through with work commitments. A healthy employee is able to do more and feel well enough to enjoy it. We strive to do our best but how can we when we have low morale at the office. Healthy employees directly impact the bottom-line of all companies, from the sole proprietorship to the large corporation (1996). Keeping health-care costs low, boosting morale, increasing productivity, and reducing the absent rate is a payoff that every good business owner should recognize. When a small business is trying to become larger, having employees who are healthy and stress free is important. Losing a member of an already small number due to being ill is not the way to succeed. Working in an environment that is happy and productive is the perfect place to work, regardless of what the job is.
The potential ramifications for the employer can be costly when employees succumb to internal and external stressors. To effectively combat job stress and develop a comprehensive stress management program, organizations must be cognizant of several areas that may be contributing factors to an employee’s stress level. Internally, organizations should review the employee’s workload and ensure that they have the necessary skills to complete the tasks they are expected to complete (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003). They must also work to “motivate, challenge and take full advantage of the employee’s skills and abilities” (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003). Employee’s job stress can also be decreased by allowing them take an active part in decisions, creating an atmosphere that facilitates a support network, and offering flexibility in their schedules that allows them to address responsibilities outside the workplace (Ornelas & Kleiner, 2003).
The studies suggest that the job retention for the healthcare professionals is based on different factors including job satisfaction, job characteristics, job stresses, providing opportunities for the development of the professionals, providing positive work environment, flexible timings for job shift, maintaining good interpersonal relationships and good communications, give benefits, and provide trainings. Healthcare professionals face lack of these factors in their job and then they decide to leave their job. When an employee leaves the job, then the workload could become increase for other workers, which can affect patient care and increases the stress for other healthcare workers due to workload. Shi discussed that healthcare workers and nurses often complain about their job role and work stress and tell that they have higher workload than any other profession and they have to deal with different problems including physical and mental problems, which is the main reason of higher rate of stress and depression in their field, that is the reason they leave their jobs to avoid anxiety, frustration and depression
Healthcare professionals to an extent should have ability to put up a mask and be emotional harsh and detached when their duties are done. Developing an emotional tough enables the worker such as nurse to perform their obligations and somewhat persist emotionally separated from their patients rather than taking it too personally. Another coping mechanism is sharing the workplace matters to relatives, friends and colleagues especially if there are cautionary signs of stress such as anxiety, frustrations, increased levels of mood swings etc. A different approach to come in terms with the emotional burden of work is by presenting the issue in staff meetings in front line of managers and directors. Hence in an overwhelming work setting ongoing demands, stress and frustrations are frequent and thus burn out results so finding ways to improve resilience in health workers is
Long – term stress can even require the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety, and depression; it can be a main cause of moodiness and frustration. Many of us are aware of the physical symptoms of stress-muscle pain, rapid breathing or an increased pulse. At the same time, they also suffer from emotional of stress which can be like roller coaster of highs or lows. emotional effects rang from emotional overeating to a feeling of being overwhelmed and pressure. stress impact many other components, which leads to difficulties in making decisions, loss sense humor, poorer concentration, negative thinking. As can be seen, stress nearly brings serious effects to people. Apart from the effects above, it can be the main reason which creates your decreased productivity at work. stress makes people less control their pace work, which leads to dissatisfaction. about 40% employees said that they are burned out because of work-related stress and loss $300 billion each year in the workplace . In addition, your relationship with people around also become worsens because of your stress. In fact, stress makes people puzzled and their life can undergo a considerable
In conclusion, workers should balancing theirs relax time and work time unless employee cannot avoid stress. This will help us to reduce the chance to get stressed and forget in 21st century’s problem. Stress in the workplace is caused by work and workload. Employees are harmed emotionally and physically by workplace stress. There are two factors of stress in the workplace which are internal and external. When you are relaxing at home, just forget the problems at work. This is the only time you have to relax and being peaceful. Lastly, stress always brings negative attitude and affects your health, so relax as long as you can.
Everyday, there are workers who come home from their jobs with a high amount of health issues. Headaches, aching muscles, exhaustion, and many more health issues have workers wondering why this is happening. All of these symptoms can be linked to stress in the workplace. Job stress has become more of a problem than ever before. Numerous studies show that job stress is the major source of stress for American adults and that it has escalated progressively over the past few decades (“Workplace Stress,” 2004). Stress has become more common and costly in the workplace not only for the workers, but also the companies. What is considered stress in the workplace? Many companies everyday are dealing with issues related to stress in the workplace. For example, the Blackpool Fylde and Wyre NSH Trust Foundation Hospital noticed there were issues with stress when people began calling out sick. Their consultant for occupational health began to see a pattern of worker stress that might be the case. With stress being such a big issue in the workplace, are there ways a company can decrease the amount of stress?