Last Name 1 Student Name Instructor Name English 101 10 December year We Are All in This Together Nurse burnout has been a hot topic for decades, but Covid-19 has pushed it to the forefront in the past two years. The effects of nurse burnout are far reaching and multidimensional. It affects every aspect of healthcare in one form or another. We must address it in the same multidimensional way if we are to hope to overcome this phenomenon and in doing so, save our healthcare system. Nurse Burnout has been defined as ‘the state of mental, physical and emotional exhaustion caused by sustained work-related stressors such as long hours, the pressure of quick decision making and the strain of caring for patients who may have poor outcomes.’ July 2020. Nurse Burnout: Risks, Causes, and Precautions-University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (usa.edu) Web. 10 December 2021. A study by Marshall University showed that when nurses were assigned more than four patients at a time, their risk for burnout increased. Along with their burnout came a seven percent per patient increased risk of mortality. July 2020. Nurse Burnout: Risks, Causes, and Precautions-University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (usa.edu) Web. 10 December 2021. Maslachs theory is that burnout induces detachment from the cause. Maslach theorizes that this detachment is a coping mechanism. Studies have shown that the higher the units acuity level, the more likely the patients will suffer a secondary infection, such as a urinary tract infection or surgical site infection. The same study also found that adding just one additional patient to a [Last Name] 2 nurses assignment, caused the same results. Leaving us to deduce the correlation between nurse burnout and poorer patient outcomes. 1 August 2012. Nurse staffing, burnout, and health care– associated infection - American Journal of Infection Control (ajicjournal.org). Web. 10 December 2021. In this article from December 2020. An Executive Strategy to Support Long-Term Clinician Engagement Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic | Article | NursingCenter. Web. 10 December 2021. The author discusses the need to form a strong alliance between the executive nurses and the floor nurses, to be able to financially survive the pandemic. This partnership required the nursing executives to support their floor nurses and nurse managers in various ways. The nurses were granted more autonomy to be able to efficiently prioritize patient care. The executives were open and honest about the economic impact the virus was causing and the hardships they faced acquiring proper personal protective equipment. In essence, the nurse executives realized that when the nurses felt that their needs were being met to the best of managements ability, they felt they were valued more as a team member and were therefore more likely to remain loyal to their team during these perilous times. The following article discusses the evolution of the ‘Triple Aim’ learning initiative into the ‘Quadruple Aim’ learning initiative. This learning initiative evolved due to the initial studies indicating that the most influential component to patient care outcome and satisfaction is the nurses work environment. The most influential part of a nurses work environment is their assignment load of the day, followed by the number of consecutive hours they worked per shift. Nurses who were scheduled a responsible patient load and could thereby take their lunch break made fewer errors and suffered from less frequent job-related injuries. When nurses were consulted in the patient care decisions, they felt heard and more like a valued team member. And [Last Name] 3 being a part of a team leads to stronger company loyalty. As evidenced by, Loyal employees who are supported by their managers are far less likely to experience burnout and leave their positions. Which saves the company money in the long run. “Joy in Work and Reducing Nurse Burnout: From Triple Aim to Quadruple Aim.” Nursing Center. Web. 15 June 2019 https://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=5703878 Web. 10 December 2021. One casualty of Nurse Burnout is the increasing shortage of nurses in the United States. Yet, we are not the only country suffering from a nursing shortage. Jordan, among nearly every other country worldwide, is struggling with the same fate. The nursing shortage is not a new occurrence. In 2006 the World Health Organization expressed their concern through a report, citing it as potential risk to the efforts to increase the health and well-being of the worlds population. Fewer nurses equates to higher patient to nurse ratios which equals higher nurse burnout and more nurses leaving the field. Nurses’ Burnout: The Influence of Leader Empowering Behaviors, Work Conditions, and Demographic Traits (nih.gov). Web. 10 December 2021. The Health Care Industry needs to get very creative in recruiting nurses and anyone who might be slightly interested in the Health Care Field. Health Care Facilities then need to nurture and encourage every fledgling, that come through their doors, to continue their educational journey and join the ranks of the nurses on staff. At the same time, they need to remember to care for their current nurses and make their work environment as pleasant as possible. Treating their subordinates with respect would be a wonderful place to start. Nurse managers could check on their floor nurses and fill in for them to get a lunch break as needed. Health Care Facilities could invest in onsite childcare for employees, perhaps include a sick childcare department as [Last Name] 4 well. Or provide paid time off for parents to care for their own sick children. As a whole, if we could recruit, nurture, and inspire young people to come into the health care field, while supporting our current staff, we might be able to retain enough nurses to finally eliminate or at the very least, minimize the hemorrhaging of nurses, due to burnout. Another factor in the nurse shortage is the large number of retiring nurses. I believe that a lot of retiring nurses would continue to work part time if they were given their retirement and then paid for the work they do too. Even if they only worked part time for an additional year or two, that would allow time for more nursing students to graduate and fill the positions. In conclusion, Nurse Burnout is a worldwide problem that must be dealt with by a multidimensional approach, if we dare to hope to control the Health Care Industries hemorrhaging of nursing staff, due to Nurse Burnout. [Last Name] 5 Cited July 2020. Nurse Burnout: Risks, Causes, and Precautions-University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (usa.edu) Web. 10 December 2021. 1 August 2012. Nurse staffing, burnout, and health care–associated infection - American Journal of Infection Control (ajicjournal.org). Web. 10 December 2021. December 2020. An Executive Strategy to Support Long-Term Clinician Engagement Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic | Article | NursingCenter. Web. 10 December 2021. 15 June 2019 https://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=5703878 Web. 10 December 2021. Nurses’ Burnout: The Influence of Leader Empowering Behaviors, Work Conditions, and Demographic Traits (nih.gov). Web. 10 December 2021.
