Nurse Burnout What We Can Do To Make A Change

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Nurse Burnout What We Can Do To Make A Change

• By Gurmeet Shergill and Nicolette Rivera

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What is Burnout??

• Burnout occurs when a person
• endures major stress and has
• difficulty coping (Medi-Smart
• 2006).
• According to time management guide.com (2005),
  symptoms of burnout can be physical or emotional
  in nature.

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How do you know youre experiencing burnout
(physical and emotional symptoms)??

• Physical symptoms can include high blood
  pressure, headaches, chronic fatigue, sleeping
  problems, frequent colds, GI problems, muscle
  aches, and sudden weight gain or loss.
• Emotional symptoms can include prolonged feelings
  of depression, frustration, anger, negativity,
  cynicism, high irritability, apathy, and lack of
  interest.
• Altum (2002) and Patrick Lavery (2006) states
  burnout of professional nurses is characterized
  by physical and emotional exhaustion, feelings of
  depersonalization is when nurses develop negative
  cynical attitudes and feelings about ones
  clients, and low productivity

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• WHO IS
• AFFECTED
• BY
• BURNOUT??

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• Registered Nurses
• Patients
• Tax Paying
• Public

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Effects of Burnout on the Registered Nurse

• High stress verbal abuse horizontal violence
• Physical and emotional illnesses
• Increased absenteeism
• Increase in errors in nursing decision making
• Decrease of team work
• and group cohesiveness

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Effects of Burnout on the Tax Paying Public and
Patients

• Increased time at the
• hospital
• Higher morbidity rate
• Increased falls,
• complaints, infections,
• pressure sores
• and longer hospital
• stays
• Increased medication
• errors

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• WHY
• NURSES ARE
• BURNING
• OUT??

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• Nursing
• Shortage
• Government Funding Cuts and Changes in the Health
  Care System
• Lack of Respect and Power

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Nursing Shortage

• Aging workforce
• The shortage is being caused by a number of
  reasons the most influential cause being that a
  great number of nurses are retiring or are soon
  to retire.
• Statistics collected in 2005 showed that 53 of
  the nursing population was 45 years old or older.
  
• 10.1 of nurses employed in 2005 were 30 years of
  age or younger.
• 44.7 years was the average age of nurses in 2005.
  43.3 years was the average age of nurses in
  2000.

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Government Cuts

• Federal/provincial funding has decreased within
  the last few decades. In 2003, thirty percent
  of the health care budget was spent on hospitals
  where as in 1975, forty five percent was spent on
  hospitals (CBC, 2004).
• Increased hospital admissions Lack of Space and
  Lack of beds Hallway Nursing
• The budget cuts have lead to the closure of beds
  and hospitals. Cuts were made to health care
  support staff, such as cleaning staff and other
  health care services (Charron, 2004).

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Government Cuts and Changes in the Health Care
System

• The cuts have increased the
• responsibilities of nurses, cut
• to nurses supports, and
• increased stress levels
• (CBC, 2007)
• Nurses are placed in situations where they are to
  try to deliver quality care without adequate
  supplies and services (Charron, 2004)

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Lack of Respect and Power

• Image of nursing portrayed by the media
• The major culprit is the media.
• The profession is falsely depicted
• because nurses are usually displayed
• as stereotypes by the media.
• The media portrays nurses as less
• knowledgeable, female,
• governed by doctors, and
• subordinate (The Center for
• Nurse Advocacy, 2006).
• The nursing profession is still
• 95 female
• and therefore helps support
• the stereotypes.

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• WHAT CAN WE DO TO
• COMBAT
• NURSE
• BURNOUT??

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Solutions to combat nurse burnout

• Nursing Shortage
• The government can make postponing retirement a
  more attractive option for the aging nursing
  population
• The government can also help with the cost of
  training nurses and therefore give incentive to
  enter the profession.
• Student grants can be awarded to students who
  prove to successful in the nursing program.
• To increase the number of nurses in Canada, the
  government can offer more seats in schools to
  train international nurses to work in Canada.
• Incentives can be given attract more
  international nurses to work in Canada.
• The government can help people to immigrate and
  set up programs to help people adjust to a new
  life in Canada.

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Solutions to Combat Nurse Burnout

• Government Cuts
• nurses take active roles lobbying to the
  government to show how the funding cuts caused
  the deterioration of the health care system and
  jeopardizes the health of patients.
• Health care representatives, such as the Hospital
  Employees Union (HEU) and the College of
  Registered Nurses of British Columbia (CRNBC),
  can conduct research studies that produces
  evidence regarding how the decreased health care
  funding has affected the state of the health care
  system.
• The reports can raise awarness about how the
  funding has affected the health of health care
  professionals.
• The reports can influence the government to
  increase funding for the health care system and
  therefore alleviating burnout.

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Solutions to Combat Nurse Burnout

• Increase respect and a positive image of nursing
  by increasing the medias involvement
• Nurses can use the media to educate the public
  about their work and send positive messages
  regarding the profession to overshadow the
  negative publicity.
• Nurses can change the perception of the public by
  portraying nurses as non-stereotypical characters
  on television shows, movies commercial, etc
  (Medscape, 2007).

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Solutions to Combat Nurse Burnout

• Awareness from the BCNU and the CRNBC will help
  them reflect on how it affects them, their
  colleagues, and their patients.
• the BCNU makes looks after the health and
  workplace environments of the nurses,
• it is applicable to present the physical,
  emotional, psychological, and spiritual effects
  of burnout on the health of the nurse
• make suggestions on how to make a change on how
  to solve the nursing shortage.
• Since the CRNBC and the government of British
  Columbia are protecting the health of the public
• it is applicable to present the issue of nursing
  burnout to CRNBC and the government of British
  Columbia because the issue causes an adverse
  effect on the patients health such as poor
  quality care by the nurses, and how the nursing
  shortage affects the registered nurses, and the
  public

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• WHAT CAN A
• NURSE DO TO COMBAT BURNOUT??

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Combat Nurse Burnout

• Keep an open communication with managers and
  other colleagues
• Stand up for
• your individual
• rights
• Take care of your
• own health

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References

• Canadian Health Services Research Foundation
  (2005). Evaluation of Patient Safety and Nurse
  Staffing. Retrieved October 18, 2007 from
  http//www.chsrf.ca/research_themes/pdf/NSPS_resea
  rcher_synthesis_e.pdf
• Canadian Nurses Association (2006). 2005
  Workforce Profile of Registered Nurses in Canada.
  Retrieved October 20, 2007 from
  http//www.cna-aiic.ca/CNA/nursing/statistics/2002
  highlights/default_e.aspx
• Canadian Nurses Association (2007). The Nursing
  Shortage - The Nursing Workforce. Retrieved
  October 20, 2007 from http//www.cna-nurses.ca/CNA
  /issues/hhr/default_e.aspx
• CBC news (2004). Price of care. Retrieved on
  October 17, 2007 from http//www.cbc.ca/news/backg
  round/healthcare/priceofcare.html
• CBC news (2007). Nursing shortage a global
  problem, convention told. Retrieved October 13,
  2007 from http//www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/06/0
  6/nursing-shortages.html
• CBC news (2007). Taking the pulse of Canada's
  nurses. Retrieved October 17, 2007 from
  http//www.cbc.ca/news/background/healthcare/nurse
  s.html
• Charron, G. (2004). Canada budget cuts have
  contributed to spread of super-bug. Retrieved
  October 14, 2007 from http//www.wsws.org/articles
  /2004/aug2004/bug-a30.shtml
• College of Registered Nurses of B.C (2007).
  About Us. Retrieved October 25, 2007 from
  http//www.crnbc.ca/downloads/404.pdf

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References

• Kaminski, J. (n.d). The Change Process and
  Selected Theories. Retrieved October 13, 2007
  from http//www.nursing-informatics.com/N4111/LA1.
  html
• Kondro, W. (2007). The hazards of nursing.
  Canadian Medical Association Journal. 176 (4),
  pages 1-1. Retrieved October 16, 2007 from
  http//www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/176/4/437?maxt
  oshowHITS10hits10RESULTFORMATfulltextnurs
  ingshortage2007andorexactfulltextandsearchid
  1FIRSTINDEX0sortspecdateresourcetypeHWCIT
• Medi-Smart (2006). Stress and Nursing Burnout
  Management. Retrieved October 21, 2007 from
  http//medi-smart.com/stress.htm
• Medscape (2007). Historical Review of Nurses'
  Power over Nursing Practice. Retrieved October
  20, 2007 from http//www.medscape.com/viewarticle/
  553403_3
• Time-Management-Guide.com (2005). Burnout
  Symptoms. Retrieved October 13, 2007 from
  http//www.time-management-guide.com/burnout-sympt
  oms.html
• Wikipedia (2007). Kurt Lewin. Retrieved October
  13, (2007) from http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_
  Lewin