ENGL 220 Unit 4 – Individual Project

Sample Answer

Introduction

Nurse burnout in health care remains a critical issue that requires effective interventions because of its effects on patient safety, healthcare quality, and cost of care for patients and health organizations. The purpose of this essay is to explore the issue of nurse burnout.

The paper provides an overview of the topic, causes and effects of burnout and strategies that organizations can use to address the issue as a critical problem in care delivery. The paper demonstrates that using evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions and effective communication can reduce the effects of nurse burnout.

Nurse Burnout Overview, Causes, Effects and Strategies to Address It

Nurse burnout is a state of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion that nurses and other healthcare providers experience emanating from work-related stressors. These include working long shifts, pressure to make fast decisions and the strain associated with caring for patients who may have poor outcomes.

Nurse burnout is a leading cause of increased nurse turnover and nurse shortage in different healthcare settings. A study by Shah et al. (2021) explores the prevalence of and factors associated with nurse burnout in the country. The study observes that close to 32% of nurses reported leaving their workplace and even profession because of burnout in 2018.

The report also notes that hospital environment and long working hours were related to increased chances of one experiencing burnout in their practice setting. The study shows that increased demand on nurses as frontline care providers during emergencies and situations like the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates the probability of experiencing burnout.

According to a study by Dall’Orca et al. (2020), adverse job features that include increased workload, low staffing rates and working long hours predicted burnout among nurses. The study also notes that insufficient support and control on staffing needs by the management lead to high chances of nurses experiencing burnout in their practice settings.

Nurse burnout has significant impact on different aspects of healthcare delivery and patient safety as well as outcomes. Studies demonstrate that burnout leads to high nurse turnover rates as nurses are overwhelmed and cannot sustain the pressure to work under the existing conditions (Noguchi, 2021). The increased turnover places more stress on an already overworked environment which poses danger and risks to patient safety as well as quality of care.

Nurse burnout lowers the quality of care offered to patients due to mistakes and medication errors that may result in death and prolonged stay in healthcare facilities. For instance, the study by Jun et al. (2021) shows that burnout leads to poor patient safety as patients are more susceptible to hospital acquired infections. Further, burnout lowers the commitment of nurses to the organization and reduces their overall productivity.

Hospitals and their management as well as providers need to develop strategies that will address the issue of nurse burnout and ensure that patients have access to quality, safe, and cost-effective care. Strategies to mitigate burnout are essential aspects of evidence-based practice (EBP) interventions. The study by De Oliveira et al. (2019) explores prevention actions of burnout syndrome among nurses. The researchers recommend individual, group and organizational approaches that can prevent burnout.

For instance, effective communication and leadership support are critical to developing work schedules that respect nurse’s abilities to work under less-strenuous environment. Again, Aryankhesal et al. (2019) develop interventions to reduce burnout among nurses and physicians using a systematic review of literature. The authors advance that team-based programs, effective coping and communication skills training and psychological interventions can help nurses and their organizations to reduce burnout.

The implication is that individual initiative like taking breaks, seeking support, and learning coping approaches can help reduce burnout. Organizational strategies like effective communication and improved scheduling as well as leadership support are critical in addressing the issue of nurse burnout.

Conclusion

Nurse burnout is an issue that leads to adverse outcomes for patients, providers and organizations. Increased workload, long working hours and shifts, and more demand for care are some of the critical causes of burnout among nurses. Burnout results into poor outcomes, increased cost of care and poor quality of care. Imperatively, stakeholders must develop interventions to address the issue and ensure that patients have quality and cost-effective as well as safe care that leads to better outcomes.

References

• Aryankhesal, A., Mohammadibakhsh, R., Hamidi, Y., Alidoost, S., Behzadifar, M., Sohrabi, R.,
  & Farhadi, Z. (2019). Interventions on reducing burnout in physicians and nurses a systematic review. Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 33, 77. DOI 10.34171/mjiri.33.77
• Dall’Ora, C., Ball, J., Reinius, M., & Griffiths, P. (2020). Burnout in nursing a theoretical
  review. Human Resources for Health, 18(1), 1-17. DOI https //doi.org/10.1186/s12960-020-00469-9
• De Oliveira, S. M., de Alcantara Sousa, L. V., Gadelha, M. D. S. V., & do Nascimento, V. B.
  (2019). Prevention actions of burnout syndrome in nurses an integrating literature review. Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health CP & EMH, 15 64-73. DOI 10.2174/1745017901915010064
• Jun, J., Ojemeni, M. M., Kalamani, R., Tong, J., & Crecelius, M. L. (2021). Relationship
  between nurse burnout, patient and organizational outcomes Systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 119, 103933. DOI 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2021.103933.
• Noguchi, Y. (2021 October 2). Health workers know what good care is. Pandemic burnout is getting in the way. Retrieved from https //www.npr.org/sections/health-sttps //www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/10/02/1039312524/health-workers-know-what-good-care-is-pandemic-burnout-is-getting-in-the-way
• Shah, M. K., Gandrakota, N., Cimiotti, J. P., Ghose, N., Moore, M., & Ali, M. K. (2021). Prevalence of and factors associated with nurse burnout in the US. JAMA Network Open, 4(2), e2036469-e2036469. doi 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.36469