Are You or Someone You Know Burned Out?

Burnout happens. It did to me. Research has indicated it is a genuine workplace crisis detrimentally affecting workers and their organizations’ bottom line. There is hope for those workers’ emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment, also research indicated. Further research will assist in the effort.

Are You or Someone You Know Burned Out?

Burn out? Me?

It was me.  Multiple times.  And, recently yet again.  After writing the two most recent allnurses® articles it became obvious to me that I was dealing with burnout.  I, the one doing a dissertation on the topic, was burnt out. 

It is not a feeling. Or a fleeting thought. It does not go away with rest, a break, or a vacation.  The effort to create a restful space or a break IS impossible.  Yet the stressful surroundings, a head full of cotton, and an inability to think a way out of the box continue.  Hopelessly working hard, and harder. Despite more and more that needs doing without reward. Thoughts of “I’m done” - yet not leaving - nobody cares what I do or don’t do? 

This emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment lending to the state of dreading work, lateness in projects and work arrival, failures in focus and memory, frustration, overwhelmed by negative and apathetic feelings – is it your colleagues? Or you? It was me.

The difficult workplace factors for me were exacerbated by the COVID-19 required shutdown of the workplace and the associated workload not designed or ever intended to be virtual became virtual. Then the workplace became a hybrid of sorts with the virtual load remaining the same and was added to the pre-COVID-19 shutdown over-the-top workload.  The resulting overload led to increased stress. I, the perfectionist, supporting multiple households, was working full-time and a doctoral student full-time.  I burned out. I was one of the few surprised at the discovery. The many not surprised were close friends and family, I had been exhibiting burnout symptoms for some time.

The previous thought was that burnout was associated with work and personality factors.   Currently, Maslach and Leiter (Lubbadeh, 2020) describe burnout as a possible result of “any mismatch or imbalance between the person and the six areas of the job [workload, control, reward, community, fairness, values]” (p. 8).

Have you seen or witnessed the run-for-the-hills co-worker reaction when a burned-out colleague is identified?  Research has indicated “burnout can be contagious and perpetuates itself through social interactions on the job” (Maslach and Leiter, 2016, p. 106).  In addition, there are multiple severe physical and psychological diseases including death associated with burnout (Lubbadeh, 2020).  The stigma associated with burnout is real.  Individuals are less likely to experience organizational and colleague support. Burned-out individuals who have left employment are less likely to be hired (Sterkens, Baert, Rooman, & Derous, 2020). 

Since it was officially identified in the 1970s research on burnout has been extensive.  The resulting preventative and treatment actions previously suggested, then used and research investigated were of varied success.  In the recent past and currently, research has indicated greater success may lie in the “interventions which [are] centered on the individual and the organization – individual-level interventions strategies to magnify the individual ability to cope with the workplace stressor.  Organizational-level intervention strategies focus on overcoming or reducing organizational mismatch and stressor” (Lubbadeh, 2020). 

In view of this heartening researched treatment information, I am currently re-inventing myself with help using the research guidelines suggested.  My re-invention efforts include my organizational workplace circumstances.  In addition, I am closer to the point at which I will begin my burnout research.  The research that I hope will shed further light on burnout as it has become a research-acknowledged genuine workplace crisis that results in debilitated workers and lost revenue (Lubbadeh, 2020; Maslach and Leiter, 2016; Sterkens, Baert, Rooman, & Derous, 2020).  Moreover, I hope my research contribution will lend to furthering the effort of burnout intervention recommendations. 

I am happy to report that rather than saying soon as I have in the past regarding the upcoming survey invitation, I can now say it is on the way.  It will be your chance to contribute and make a difference - watch for it! 

References

Lubbadeh, T. (2020). Job burnout: A general literature review. International Review of Management and Marketing, 10(3), 7-15. Retrieved from econjournals.com

Sterkens, P., Baert, S., Rooman, C., & Derous, E. (2020). As if it weren't hard enough already: Breaking down hiring discrimination following burnout. IZA Discussion Papers, 13514. Retrieved from IZA.org

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PamtheNurse

About PamtheNurse, BSN, MSN

PamtheNurse specializes in Simulation.

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I have your solutions for workplace Burnout:

  1. PASS PROACT!
  2. UNIONIZE - NNU, SEIU
  3. TELL CONGRESS TO PASS NURSE STAFFING AND PATIENT SAFETY ACT NOW OR WE WON'T VOTE FOR THEM. See my other post.

I'm burnt out hearing that burnout is a result of time mismangement,  mismatch jobs, and need for resiliency training. That's placing blame on the victim. In reality, it's a result of too many patients to care for being assigned to nurses and doctors during a shift. It's not so much a nurse shortage, it's a hiring shortage in most cases. It's also burnout nurses who refuse to work under morally unjust conditions.

All hospitals have their staffing, risk mgt, and profit algorithmic benchmarks to adhere to in the name of profits. No amount of me changing my attitude or running faster will change/fix this.

As far as mismatch goes, this should be addressed before schools take student money. More responsibility needs to be placed on schools. 1/3 new nurses leave nursing in the first two years. Think student loans. 
 

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Specializes in Education.

All interesting and provocative thoughts!

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Specializes in LTC.
On 7/25/2021 at 1:25 PM, AtomicNurse said:

I have your solutions for workplace Burnout:

  1. PASS PROACT!
  2. UNIONIZE - NNU, SEIU
  3. TELL CONGRESS TO PASS NURSE STAFFING AND PATIENT SAFETY ACT NOW OR WE WON'T VOTE FOR THEM. See my other post.

I'm burnt out hearing that burnout is a result of time mismangement,  mismatch jobs, and need for resiliency training. That's placing blame on the victim. In reality, it's a result of too many patients to care for being assigned to nurses and doctors during a shift. It's not so much a nurse shortage, it's a hiring shortage in most cases. It's also burnout nurses who refuse to work under morally unjust conditions.

All hospitals have their staffing, risk mgt, and profit algorithmic benchmarks to adhere to in the name of profits. No amount of me changing my attitude or running faster will change/fix this.

As far as mismatch goes, this should be addressed before schools take student money. More responsibility needs to be placed on schools. 1/3 new nurses leave nursing in the first two years. Think student loans. 
 

Congress is a joke and so is trying to get them to do their job. You’d have better luck trying to get blood from a stone. 

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Specializes in Remote Ready Nursing Skills/RPM/HEDIS/Care Manager.

Nursing Burn out is real.  Such an excellent article on this long-time issue for nurses in facility nursing.  We are working with many nurses, RNs and LPNs,  who have already resigned from the hospital or facility nursing and want to work from their homes in telehealth.  

 

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11 hours ago, Crystal-Wings said:

Congress is a joke and so is trying to get them to do their job. You’d have better luck trying to get blood from a stone. 

We can't give up because many in congress are supportive. We need to help these congresspeeps. This bill will become law. It's up to us to make it sooner than later. Let's do our part for our patients and ourselves. It doesn't take long to fill out and it documents our stand. 

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Specializes in Nursing Faculty, Simulation Specialist.

Why do nursing faculty hesitate to admit they suffer burnout?  I see it every day on campus.  People sniping at each other, presenting lackluster course materials, taking a lot of sick time.  Then there's the complaining about the students.  Let's get real, they are students after all.  The reason they don't know anything is because, well, they don't!  Stop trying to expect them to act like seasoned nurses.  Are we faculty so caught up in vying for that promotion that we are in complete denial?  Shame on us.

 

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Yes, I defend students too. It's a shock transitioning from school to practice and dealing with mean preceptors is just too much. These days orientation is getting shorter and shorter. I loved precepting. 

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Specializes in Critical Care.
On 7/25/2021 at 1:25 PM, AtomicNurse said:

I have your solutions for workplace Burnout:

  1. PASS PROACT!
  2. UNIONIZE - NNU, SEIU
  3. TELL CONGRESS TO PASS NURSE STAFFING AND PATIENT SAFETY ACT NOW OR WE WON'T VOTE FOR THEM. See my other post.

I'm burnt out hearing that burnout is a result of time mismangement,  mismatch jobs, and need for resiliency training. That's placing blame on the victim. In reality, it's a result of too many patients to care for being assigned to nurses and doctors during a shift. It's not so much a nurse shortage, it's a hiring shortage in most cases. It's also burnout nurses who refuse to work under morally unjust conditions.

All hospitals have their staffing, risk mgt, and profit algorithmic benchmarks to adhere to in the name of profits. No amount of me changing my attitude or running faster will change/fix this.

As far as mismatch goes, this should be addressed before schools take student money. More responsibility needs to be placed on schools. 1/3 new nurses leave nursing in the first two years. Think student loans. 
 

Great post Atomic! I agree! I also read your other post with proactive, actionable solutions in the here and now. Great job sharing all the info. and links! Will do! 

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Specializes in Education.

Thank you all, great posts, and ideas for change.  I know that nursing faculty is just returning for a stressful new semester start, under our nation's current circumstances.  I am as a colleague asking for 10 minutes of nursing faculty member time to complete my research survey https://allnurses.com/research-t736280/ to generate possible intervention suggestions for burned-out nursing faculty.  Please send or post the link! More responses are needed to make a difference.

PamtheNurse

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Specializes in Nursing Faculty, Simulation Specialist.

We've been working all year at our school.  And, yes, many of us are burnt out.  Not just Covid, in fact I doubt Covid has much to do with it really.  The stress was from going online for classes that had clinical and lab in them.  had to do virtual clinical and lab.  Really concerned that students won't be ready to care for "real" patients.  The stress is that our college is piling up work hour credits.  They have increased about 50% over what they consistently were for the past 4 years.  We keep getting different explanations but none of it makes sense.  How can a full-time professor do a decent job when they are expected to teach 60-70 students as well as take a clinical assignment?  Some of our professors have 7 labs and over 80 students!  That is ONE professor!!  Burned out isn't enough of a phrase for this.  I took the survey for you and hope others will do so.  Clinical nurses aren't the only ones about to throw in the towel!  Without educators there won't be many clinical nurses available.  

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Specializes in Medical Librarian, former ICU RN.

Honestly, I'd be shocked if you all weren't burned out to some extent by this point. Humans can only take so much, and for some nurses, there wasn't a drop off of Covid cases, at least not enough where things could get back to some semblance of normal. I am no longer a direct care RN partly due to burn out (long before Covid). Lots of insights in this article.

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