Assignment: Causes of Nurse Burnout

The project has advanced from the initial stage of gaining an in-depth understanding of the topic through a background literature search. So far, the problem of the topic has been defined and well understood. The project is concerned with the causes of the problem of nurse burnout. The reason for the interest in the topic is that the problem has been rising in the country lately. Besides the definition of the problem, the project has also established goals and objectives that it aims to achieve. The researcher engaged the staff within the same unit to gain insight into the problem. The project's scope has also been defined and is expected to be followed to the latter. After that, the project identified the challenges that the project is likely to encounter. The event experienced by the researcher and the observed pattern during fieldwork is presented. The observations have been arranged into a structure presenting different information based on the topic.

The issue of burnout among clinicians is a significant risk in the United States. Nurses are essential contributors to healthcare and make up the largest portion of the workforce in the nation. The nurse leaders have critical role to play in ensuring that nurses thrive in quality work environment that contribute toward their job satisfaction to decrease turnover and increase outcome (McCormack et al., 2018). Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that nurses work in an environment that ensures they are made comfortable enough to perform to their level best. As a result, the relevant authorities must address the problem of burnout, which has been identified as one of the significant problems facing nurses today. The healthcare system is currently characterized by an increase in the workload and, consequently, the demand for nurses. The situation has impacted the work of these nurses tremendously.

            According to Friganović et al. (2017), the solutions to the problem of burnout among nurses require a multidisciplinary and holistic approach. However, the factors that cause burnout and the stakeholders' consequences have never been made explicit. Freudenberger introduced the concept of burnout in 1974 after noticing a loss of motivation and decreased commitment by volunteers who worked at a mental health facility. Maslach developed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) to measure burnout. Maslach stated that burnout is a state resulting from a prolonged mismatch between an individual and at least one of the six elements he identified. The elements include workload, reward, control, community, values, and fairness. In other words, Maslach believed that the six characteristics are responsible for the problem of burnout. Additionally, these elements also place at the risk of experiencing deteriorating health and decreased job performance.

Burnout among nurses is a growing concern in the healthcare sector as it leads to reduced energy. Studies have established that nurses experience a high level of stress-related burnout than all the other professionals in the healthcare sector. Today, numerous studies have been advanced suggesting that burnouts and reduced job satisfaction emanate from exposure to work environments that cause stress and cause poor health for nurses. However, nurses’ burnout can be solved simply by ensuring enough staff to take care of the growing needs of patients (Shah et al., 2021). Furthermore, many studies associate nurses' burnout with lack of motivation, emotional exhaustion, and the feeling of frustration. Therefore, if attempts are made to improve the motivational levels of nurses, then the problem of burnout can be solved based on the available studies. Furthermore, the reduction in the number of nurses has become a global concern lately, and hence, this should be solved. Finally, personal and work conditions have been associated with reducing the number of nurses. 

References

Friganović, A., Kovačević, I., Ilić, B., Žulec, M., Krikšić, V., & Grgas Bile, C. (2017). Healthy settings in hospital–how to prevent burnout syndrome in nurses: literature review. Acta Clinica Croatica, 56(2.), 292-298. https://doi.org/10.20471/acc.2017.56.02.13

McCormack, H. M., MacIntyre, T. E., O'Shea, D., Herring, M. P., & Campbell, M. J. (2018). The prevalence and cause (s) of burnout among applied psychologists: A systematic review. Frontiers in psychology, 1897. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01897

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. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.36469