5 Whys: Finding the Root Cause of a Problem

Recap of Week Two Work; Causes of Nurse Burnout

Burnout reduces the quality of nursing care and compromises patient safety. Analyzing the root causes of burnout is essential in eliminating the problem and facilitating corrective measures to be taken. Burnout is caused by poor staffing, shortages, and high turnover, leading to nurses’ increased workload and fatigue. Effects of burnout on the nurses include fatigue, lack of motivation and impaired well-being, which affects service delivery to the patients. Medical errors which have adverse patient outcomes are commonly caused by nurses’ burnout. We also covered the interventions to help decrease nurse burnout, including integrating technological practices, reviewing existing literature to propose feasible solutions, and applying legal, ethical, and cultural practices.

Root Cause Analysis

1. Define the problem

The issues at hand should be identified and categorized depending on the situation where the problem falls. A problem should be a descriptive statement of the state of issues and not a judgment or a question. Existence of a perceived gap between the existing state and the desired outcomes allows the organization to achieve its goals. It allows enables the organization to determine the magnitude of the problem.

2. Collect adequate information

Gather data that provides clues to the scope and solution of the problem. Patient experiences, timeliness of care and effectiveness of care can be used to get accurate valid data. Questionnaires or surveys can be administered to the patients because they provide accurate representation. Information obtained should be categorized in the order of liability. Also, include the course of effect and how long the situation has occurred.

3. Identify causal factors

Factors that are attributed to the problem at hand are identified.  Medical errors occur due to failure to complete an intended plan of action. The nurse failed to counter check the specimen and correctly labels it which led to the wrong specimens being sent to the laboratory. Inadequate staffing especial during the night shift leaves the nurse with an increased workload. The ration of patients to nurse is 1:8. This makes it hard to takes breaks because all patients needs have to be attended to.

4. Determine the root cause

Staffing balances the quantity of staff available with the quantity of staff needed by the organization. It ensures that there is the right staff mix to provide quality care. However, there is an inadequate number of nurses leaving the available staff to take up more workload to ensure that organizations achieve the objective of providing quality care to the consumers of health. This causes burnout because the nurses are forced to work longer hours and take up more roles and responsibilities.  

5. Recommend and implement solutions

Health policies formulated by the legislative, judicial or executive branches of government should ensure that healthcare organizations can achieve their goals. Staffing and scheduling policies should be appropriate to promote high productivity and job satisfaction among the staff. Patient needs, staff needs, patient population and workload should be put into consideration. Quality improvement and patient safety depends on the well-being of the nurses therefore organizations should strive to ensure that nurses do not experience burnouts.

Project Struggles or Challenges

Something you have learned while completing your project

The occurrences of medical errors, near events and adverse events are the primary cause of disability and death. It compromises patient safety and the quality of care being provided. The errors can be due to human or organizational factors. Every healthcare provider should collaborate to enhance patient safety and improve the quality of care provided. Leadership, management at all levels, organizational structure, policies, procedures and practice guidelines should be adhered to because they help eliminate undesirable consequences that should have been prevented. Everyone should be accountable, and managers should develop a culture of safety. Also, regular audits should be done to determine what is done right or wrong and the corrective measures to implement.