[EmerNurse]

INSPECTIONS contribute to burn out. I swear, I am SO tired of JCAHO and ACHA and Magnet and whoever else wanders down the pike, I could scream.

Every time I walk into work, things have been moved, locked up, changed, new paperwork, new requirements, old ones thrown out, signs up telling us idiot stuff like we're 1st graders. THANK GOD I work nights. I could never deal with this on day shift.

Oh and all those changes? We find out about them from the shift reporting off to us, not in any kind of formal communication, inservice or whatever. They had a fit cause so many missed the staff meeting but they'd only put up flyers the day before!! Why not use that email you're always telling us to check, to actually inform us of things, hmm?

Staff is getting miserable, the place is overflowing with BS patients, even more than usual, call-outs are a daily event, people are talking about leaving.. it goes on and on. You dance as fast as you possibly can to give good patient care and they STILL want to harp on something. Never a word for those who actually get the job done and show the hell up for their shift.

You want burn-out, you got it. I'm not quitting - Lord knows why (I'm sure it's on Axis 2 somewhere) but I like my job, I just hate all this BS. But I'm not gonna kill myself anymore. I just can't.

Sorry for the rant - caught me on a bad morning.

[Lorelai22RN]

Originally Posted by EmerNurse

INSPECTIONS contribute to burn out. I swear, I am SO tired of JCAHO and ACHA and Magnet and whoever else wanders down the pike, I could scream.

Every time I walk into work, things have been moved, locked up, changed, new paperwork, new requirements, old ones thrown out, signs up telling us idiot stuff like we're 1st graders. THANK GOD I work nights. I could never deal with this on day shift.

Oh and all those changes? We find out about them from the shift reporting off to us, not in any kind of formal communication, inservice or whatever. They had a fit cause so many missed the staff meeting but they'd only put up flyers the day before!! Why not use that email you're always telling us to check, to actually inform us of things, hmm?
Staff is getting miserable, the place is overflowing with BS patients, even more than usual, call-outs are a daily event, people are talking about leaving.. it goes on and on. You dance as fast as you possibly can to give good patient care and they STILL want to harp on something. Never a word for those who actually get the job done and show the hell up for their shift.

You want burn-out, you got it. I'm not quitting - Lord knows why (I'm sure it's on Axis 2 somewhere) but I like my job, I just hate all this BS. But I'm not gonna kill myself anymore. I just can't.

Sorry for the rant - caught me on a bad morning.

So true. Another reason I am going PRN after June when my year of experience is up. Tired of so much at this job.........need a break even if if it is a paycut

[blueheaven]

Originally Posted by janfrn

Let me add my
* Chronic short-staffing at all levels
* Mandatory and other forms of overtime (paid or unpaid)
* Ever-increasing acuity coupled with just-as-rapidly increasing busy-work
* Lack of leadership
* Lack of flexibility in the system from the top down
* Lack of meaningful recognition
* Management that is out of touch with what's going on on the units
* Patients and families that demand attention out of proportion to their true needs
* Violence in the workplace

I could think of many more...

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the tendency for nurses to have the "If I don't do it, it won't get done" mentality. I hate to use the label codependant but many of the characteristics of burnout are similar to those of codependancy. When we learn to set boundaries, take care of OURSELVES, and develop a life outside of the caregiving role (along with others) burnout will be less of a problem. (IMO)

[snowfreeze]

After 15 years as an RN I find I burn-out quicker if I am frustrated at work due to not being able to do my job properly.
The things that contribute to that include: Understaffing, ancillary staff not doing their jobs, pharmacy not suppling what I need, central supply not supplying what I need, cranky co-workers, multiple inquiry phone calls from multiple family members, the stress from dealing with nasty patients and family members slows me down too.
I love being a nurse and seem to find temporary burnout ocassionally. Things seem worse when there are outside or family issues too. If you are able to take a day or two off to resolve outside issues then work is a piece of cake.

[DusktilDawn]

Originally Posted by snowfreeze

After 15 years as an RN I find I burn-out quicker if I am frustrated at work due to not being able to do my job properly.
The things that contribute to that include: Understaffing, ancillary staff not doing their jobs, pharmacy not suppling what I need, central supply not supplying what I need, cranky co-workers, multiple inquiry phone calls from multiple family members, the stress from dealing with nasty patients and family members slows me down too.
I love being a nurse and seem to find temporary burnout ocassionally. Things seem worse when there are outside or family issues too. If you are able to take a day or two off to resolve outside issues then work is a piece of cake.

If you were to take a poll where I work with the nursing staff, and asked the question: "What is the ONE thing that would make your job easier?" The number one answer would be: "If people just did their job."

I've seen such tremendous effort put in by others to avoid doing their job, or doing it half-a****. It's amazing the lengths I've seen some go to avoid work or do it incorrectly (so I'll have to do it). The effort and time spent doing this is far greater than it would have taken them to just do their job right in the first place.

[nurse_clown]

One day I didn't feel well. I have a part time job of 24 hours per pay period. Then there's my other part time job that can be 46 - 68 hours per pay period. Sometimes, I'll go five nights in a row or seven nights in a row. I have to very active kids I need to be involved with. There are the stressors outside of work like an ex. The stressors at work like understaffing.

So, I went to work any way thinking that I'll feel better once I start getting busy. But that evening I could only work for 10 minutes then, I had to sit down from the pain. I couldn't take it anymore so I went to the E.R. I had a kidney infection and had to go home. Five days later I still wasn't better. I had taken the antibiotics but I was dead tired. I knew I was burnt out. I couldn't recover quick enough from the kidney infection. I remember being so irritable till that point. I was yelling at everyone including my manager. I was so sick of being short staffed. I hated rushing around handing out meds for two carts for palliative patients. I hated not having the time to help dying patients families when the E.R. charge nurse wants to admit into the bed that the body hasn't even been brought to the morgue.

I still feel burnt out. Now, I've accepted Board of Director responsibilities for the native friendship center. Like I need more stress in my life. I think I'm a good example of burn out.

[cherishlpn]

Thanks for all the tips and stories. This has really helped me with my research paper, but even more, I understand that I am not the only one who feels like they can't cope with work sometimes and it's not because I'm any less competent than other nurses. Our jobs have become more and more difficult to accomplish and I'm hoping that during my research procs, that I may find a way to get some changes set in motion. Thanks

[AmandaBrittainy]

I read a nice research summary of the main contributers to nursing burnout recently. Number one of course was the higher the patient ratio, the more burnout s/sx were present.
Another reason is that what we are taught to do in school and what our nursing ethics support highly conflict with our role in the health care industry and how we are supported in our roles by the places we work.
Another huge reason - nurses do not get to be involved in decisions regarding thier own work environment and patient care. Its so nice when someone is basically telling us our input is invalid when we are the only ones that truly know what is needed on the front line. These are the main contributers.
As for JCAHO - what a useless, sorry excuse for anything to do with safe patient care. It is a money sucking scam operation that permits hospitals to provide horridly unsafe staffing and allows them to cough up excuses for everything that doesnt get done according to policy (which is usually due to understaffed conditions). I have no use for JCAHO and am glad I work nights becuase there is no way I could deal with thier brown-nosing prescence that only makes me work harder yet does nothing for my pt care and the safety of my nursing license, both of which I bust my tail for.

[CseMgr1]

Originally Posted by AmandaBrittainy

As for JCAHO - what a useless, sorry excuse for anything to do with safe patient care. It is a money sucking scam operation that permits hospitals to provide horridly unsafe staffing and allows them to cough up excuses for everything that doesnt get done according to policy (which is usually due to understaffed conditions). I have no use for JCAHO and am glad I work nights becuase there is no way I could deal with thier brown-nosing prescence that only makes me work harder yet does nothing for my pt care and the safety of my nursing license, both of which I bust my tail for.

[pickledpepperRN]

From the Journal of the American Medical Association ( attached)
Vol. 288 No. 16, October 23, 2002
Hospital Nurse Staffing and Patient Mortality, Nurse Burnout, and Job Dissatisfaction


...Conclusions* In hospitals with high patient-to-nurse ratios, surgical patients experience higher risk-adjusted 30-day mortality and failure-to-rescue rates, and nurses are more likely to experience burnout and job dissatisfaction...