Burnout Among Nurses Research Paper

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Nursing Burnout

Polikandrioti M.( 2009). Burnout Syndrome. Retrieved March 24, from 2014 http://www.hsj.gr/volume3/issue4/340.pdf

This article is on burnout syndrome which is described as a complex phenomena on the rise associated with a stressful work environment.it was described by Freudenberger in the mid-1970s and ever since it has been a subject of discussion. According to the article, the burnout syndrome is characterized using three dimensions; emotional exhaustion which refers to the depletion of emotional resources when it comes to contact wit other people. The second dimension is depersonalization which includes negative feelings and a cynical attitude towards someone who is receiving care. The third dimension is reduced personal accomplishment which involves the tendency of evaluating one self in a negative way especially when it comes to work. The article sites a pronounced impact of the burnout syndrome as the reduction in the performance of an employee and their quality of service delivery. Those who experience this syndrome loose the meaning of work as a result of a long period of emotional, physical as well as mental exhaustion. This leads to being unable to meet work related demands. Burnout syndrome is linked with excessive absenteeism, use of sick leave, wishing one can leave the job and a general decrease in their overall well-being. The article highlights where this syndrome commonly occurs; the syndrome is common in particular professions which require a lot of interaction with people or working with people as those who are receiving a service including health professionals, teachers, policemen, social workers.it is also associated with people who work in environments that involve hazardous responsibility, severe consequences and precision when performing duties. According to studies nurses in hospitals are seen to be at a very high risk of burnout syndrome and this can be attributed to various reasons such as; high demands of patients, hazards that are likely to occur in nursing care, the persistent fear of committing errors when administering medicine, heavy workload or pressure in time when it comes to delivering care for many of the patients during shifts, the public no respecting them, dislike of traditional dominance the physicians have had and enjoyed, frequent aggressive behavior or violence from patients when they are carrying out their work, non-existing clear roles, understaffing and finally not having support in the work environment. A factor which is strongly associated with the development of this syndrome is the personality type particularly the hardiness that reflects the relative capacity of an individual of remaining healthy after experiencing strong, repetitive or even long lasting stressful situations ( Polikandrioti, 2009)

Even though the syndrome is prevalent among healthcare professionals it is more likely to affect nurses. Therefore the information provided in the article can be quite useful when it comes to how nurses administer care to patients. This article acts as an eye opener to the supervisors within healthcare profession and hence helps in improvement of patient care. This is through the preventing the development of burnout syndrome among nurses hence they will execute their duties well and thus improve patient care. Nurses that work with cancer or HIV and those in the Emergency departments or the Intensive Care Units are the ones who are most susceptible to developing this syndrome. Therefore leaders within the health profession should ensure that they provide an environment that offers trust, motivation, respect, communication and one that allows independence .such environments will definitely lead to the minimization of incidences of burnout syndrome the entire health profession especially nurses. Management should also be made aware of symptoms of burnout syndrome hence enable them to identify those individuals hat are at risk. Support groups in clinical practice would help in early intervention when it comes to treatment of burnout syndrome and applying appropriate solutions as well as copying mechanisms ( Polikandrioti, 2009).

This article can be applied in my own nursing profession in various ways. First of all it can help identification of the symptoms of the burnout syndrome hence help me recognize if I am suffering from the syndrome.

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Secondly the article can help in prevention of the syndrome since it has highlighted the predisposing factors of the syndrome. Understanding the predisposing factors enables me as a nurse to avoid or prevent them in order to avoid contracting the syndrome. Finally the article has highlighted on measures that superiors in the healthcare profession can help nurses in preventing this syndrome. Therefore with such environments created as a nurse I can be able to work effectively without any destruction or set backs at the end of the day I will not contract the syndrome.

In conclusion I can say that the article has given facts about burnout syndrome, which profession it mostly occurs in and its causes.it has also highlighted reasons why those in the nursing profession are most vulnerable to the syndrome. Finally it has given some suggestions on how both superiors in the health care profession and nurses can help in reducing the occurrence of the syndrome among nurses.

ARTICLE II

ScienceDaily, LLC.(2012). Long shifts lead to nurse burnout and dissatisfied patients. Retrieved March 24,from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121106114046.htm

This second article sites the cause of burnout syndrome as long shifts among nurses. Extended work shifts of twelve hours or longer is something common and popular among nurses in hospitals .however research has shown that nurses who are working these shifts are the ones likely to experience burnout syndrome, being dissatisfied with their jobs and their patients feeling dissatisfied with the care given to them. The article points out various studies that have been done to prove this the first one is on establishing the relationship that exists between the length of shifts of nurses and the assessment of patient's care. The results showed that nurses that worked shifts of above ten hours had a two and a half times more likelihood of developing burnout syndrome or being dissatisfied with their jobs.at the same time seven out of ten of the patients were adversely affected by these longer shifts by nurses. The eight hour shifts that existed before are now slowly becoming a thing of the past and the bedside nurses are now being forced to work the twelve hour shifts. When the long shifts are put together with overtime, the shifts that rotate between night and day duty and shifts that follow each other nurses become fatigued and eventually develop burnout syndrome at the end of the day patient care is compromised (ScienceDaily, LLC, 2012).

According to research, sixty five percent of nurses worked shifts of between 12 and 13 hours and a high percentage of them reported burnout ad their intention of leaving the job went up as a length of the shift also went up.at the same time in hospitals where nurses work longer shifts a high percentage of patients made reports of nurses not communicating with them well, their pain was sometimes never controlled and even never received the help they required in good time. All these studies have shown the relationship between working long hours and the development of burnout syndrome which leads to poor patient care.in the article there is to nursing leadership to ensure that they encourage a culture in the workplace where there is respect for nurses. This includes giving those days off and vacations, promoting their prompt departure at the end of a shift and allowing nurses refuse to work over time without being reattributed. Such policies in place allow and facilitate manageable working hours hence lead to healthy nursing workforce that is prepared to manage the complex care that patients require (ScienceDaily, LLC, 2012).

This article has clearly influence patient care through highlighting the effects of long shifts to nurses. The effects of this shifts is creating burnout among nurses and hence reducing their performance. This trickles down to patient care….....

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