Nurse burnout-How do you handle it?

[Nursepreneur]

Plantar fasciitis, sciatica, gastritis, Yes, I've had them all!

I've also had nightmares of the aspirin I hadn't given while eyeballing the patient with shortness of breath in another room.

Tasks, procedures, complaints, a full bladder with no lunch can equal nurse burnout!

Consequently, you ask yourself, WHY did I become a NURSE?

Age old question huh...

I'll tell you why you become a nurse

You wanted to work weekends, holidays, and your birthday! Right?

No, you became a nurse because you like helping, you like helping patients!

You help people in their worst states of pain, desperation, anxiety, fear, depression, loss of life, stress, violence, guilt and surprise.

You became a nurse because..

You got addicted to patients who genuinely thank you. You feel good about advocating for patients that need more pain medication,

You help the person with SOB take a deep breath.

You like the team work it takes to run a successful code!

And giving stickers to a toddler, suddenly makes you super

nurse.

So how do you handle nurse burnout? What has worked for you and most importantly how do you stay engaged and empathic in your profession without getting too tainted?

[herring_RN, ASN, BSN]

Why America's Nurses Are Burning Out

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Stress and fatigue top the list of on-the-job health concerns. So what can be done?

... A 2012 report in the American Journal of Medical Quality projected a shortage of registered nurses to spread across the country by 2030.

Work schedules and insufficient staffing are among the factors driving many nurses to leave the profession. American nurses often put in 12-hour shifts over the course of a three-day week. Research found nurses who worked shifts longer than eight to nine hours were two-and-a-half times more likely to experience burnout...

... "Our results show that nurses are underestimating their own recovery time from long, intense clinical engagement, and that consolidating challenging work into three days may not be a sustainable strategy to attain the work-life balance they seek," says study author Linda Aiken, PhD, director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing.

Deborah Burger, RN, co-president of the union and professional association National Nurses United, doesn't believe that long work shifts tell the whole story. "Most people can work a 10- or 12-hour shift if they've got the right support and right level of staffing," Burger says.

"In order for nurses to feel satisfied and fulfilled with their work, the staffing issues must be seriously addressed from a very high level," says Eva Francis, MSN, RN, CCRN, a former nursing administrator. "Nurses also need to be able to express themselves professionally about the workload, and be heard without the fear of threat to their jobs or the fear of being singled out."...

... Burger stresses the importance of taking regular breaks on the job. "If you're not getting those breaks or they're interrupted, then you don't have the ability to refresh your spirit," she says. "It sounds hokey, but it is true that you do need some brain downtime so that you could actually process the information you've been given."

Tersigni, 63, now works part-time at a local hospital, specializing in the health and well-being of other nurses. She founded Yoga Nursing, a stress-management program combining deep breathing, quick stretches, affirmations, and relaxation and meditation techniques. "All of these can be done anytime throughout the day," Tersigni says. "I even teach nurses to teach these to their patients. So the nurse breathes, stretches, and relaxes, while also teaching it to the patient."...

http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/why-americas-nurses-are-burning-out/

[PerfectlyNumb]

Research found nurses who worked shifts longer than eight to nine hours were two-and-a-half times more likely to experience burnout...

I completely agree with the above quote. I previously worked 12 hour shifts and felt burned out all of the time. I switched to 8 hour shifts and I feel like I can take on each day on a "shift by shift" basis. I can do nearly anything for 8 hours…but 12 hours is just too daunting, especially in the ER. And get three 12 hour shifts in a row…wow, I had nothing left for myself.

[zmansc, ASN, RN]

The article was actually an interesting read. I think there is more to it than the sound bites that come from the abstract. The article will often discuss how bad things are with longer shifts, but the data seems to show the bad results are mostly when the shifts are greater than 13 hr. In fact in most of the data, the 12-13hr category is not statistically significantly different than the 8-10hr category. I think this is probably because if/when we work 3x12 (without overtime) we usually have sufficient recovery time in extra days off, etc. However, when we have to stay late and pick up extra shifts, then the benefits of the 3 day work week get thrown out the window and we do get overworked.

Interestingly, the group with the highest satisfaction level with their facilities scheduling practice was the group with the 12-13hr shifts, in other words, the nurses themselves wanted to work 3x12 vs 5x8. I would hypothesize that the bigger relationship would be patient load r/t burnout, outcomes, & pt satisfaction. I know when the load goes up in my unit the burnout comes faster, and I have to believe the outcomes goes down. I think when load goes up, more RNs have to stay late to help the oncoming shift, etc., and more overtime shifts are pulled, so that is why this paper shows something of a correlation between shift length and burnout. Of course, I don't have any data to back up my thoughts, so I might be totally wrong on it too! How's that for a disclaimer at the end! :) lol