Update: Why Emotions Matter: Age, Agitation, and Burnout among Registered Nurses

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Jan 17, 2008

Good one.

I don't know why they haven't got nurse recruiters on a dual role as retainers as well. Seems like one job would complement the other nicely.

oramar · Jan 17, 2008

Great news that someone is doing this type of research.

KayceeLeeRN, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2008

Interesting! I am a younger nurse (under 30) and before I decided to leave my position on med/surg I reached out to my manager who responded by telling me "well I'm a nurse, and I never felt that way." (re: feeling very stressed and having trouble coping with it)

I resigned shortly after.

EmmaG, RN · Jan 17, 2008

"Nurses' negative feelings about their jobs, including their feelings of burnout, tend to be influenced more by the organizational practices governing the workplace than by the challenges inherent in caring for others."

YES. It isn't nursing that makes me want to bang my head against the wall.

Lorie P. · Jan 17, 2008

it isn't nursing that causes the:angryfire:banghead: it is jaco, managment, p & p, short staffing, get the picture.

i love nursing but not the *&*&*(&&&** you get from the above sources!!

James Huffman · Jan 17, 2008

from the article cited:

"Of these 829 registered nurses, 96% were female and 95% were Caucasian."

I wonder: did the article's authors find any differences between women and men respondents? (I know it's hard making a statistical discussion with such a small group of men and non-Caucasians). I've noticed that those who speak of "burnout" seem to be overwhelmingly women; it's always possible that men suffer from the same problem, but I don't hear men speaking about it.

I also wonder if there's a difference between Caucasian nurses and other ethnic groups (especially African American). I've likewise found that those who speak of burnout tend to be Anglos.

Another question about the survey would be whether their respondents were somewhat self-selected. In other words, did those who answered tend to be those who "feel" burnout while perhaps those who don't feel it just didn't return the survey?

allnurses Guide · Jan 17, 2008

from the article cited:
"Of these 829 registered nurses, 96% were female and 95% were Caucasian."
I wonder: did the article's authors find any differences between women and men respondents? (I know it's hard making a statistical discussion with such a small group of men and non-Caucasians). I've noticed that those who speak of "burnout" seem to be overwhelmingly women; it's always possible that men suffer from the same problem, but I don't hear men speaking about it.
I also wonder if there's a difference between Caucasian nurses and other ethnic groups (especially African American). I've likewise found that those who speak of burnout tend to be Anglos.
Another question about the survey would be whether their respondents were somewhat self-selected. In other words, did those who answered tend to be those who "feel" burnout while perhaps those who don't feel it just didn't return the survey?

You make some good points.

I think this way now because I survived my Statistics class!

steph

llg, PhD, RN · Jan 17, 2008

This is going to be an unpopular idea ... but the article made me think of the old way of thinking that women "shouldn't get themselves agitated" about frustrations n life. I mean in Jane Austen novels and the like. It was considered "unhealthy" for young women to have "high emotions" and be agitated in any way.

I always took that as an example of the "poppycock" of a bygone era ... but the article made me wonder if there isn't some connection. Perhaps young women DO tend to resond to stress with an agitation that it non-porductive. Perhaps our forefathers (and mothers) were on to something.

I'm certainly not in agreement with their subjugation of women ... but perhaps there is a connection between their admonishments to "not agitate yourself so" and the phenomena discussed in the article.

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2008

exhausted, discouraged, saddened, powerless, frightened - these are the emotions experienced by nurses on a daily basis. nurses' negative feelings about their jobs, including their feelings of burnout, tend to be influenced more by the organizational practices governing the workplace than by the challenges inherent in caring for others (aiken et al., 2001, 2002; aiken & sloane, 1997). supporting this view, a report based on the national sample survey of registered nurses indicated that it was the "structure of the job, rather than the composition of the work" that influenced nurses' job satisfaction (spratley, et al. 2000, p. 31).

that just hits the nail squarely on the head.

Valerie Salva, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2008

from the article cited:
"Of these 829 registered nurses, 96% were female and 95% were Caucasian."
I wonder: did the article's authors find any differences between women and men respondents? (I know it's hard making a statistical discussion with such a small group of men and non-Caucasians). I've noticed that those who speak of "burnout" seem to be overwhelmingly women; it's always possible that men suffer from the same problem, but I don't hear men speaking about it.
I also wonder if there's a difference between Caucasian nurses and other ethnic groups (especially African American). I've likewise found that those who speak of burnout tend to be Anglos.
Another question about the survey would be whether their respondents were somewhat self-selected. In other words, did those who answered tend to be those who "feel" burnout while perhaps those who don't feel it just didn't return the survey?

Men must be suffering from burnout. They are leaving nursing at almost twice the rate that women are, according to a number of studies.

"(AP) Recent graduates of the nation's nursing schools are leaving the profession more quickly than their predecessors, with male nurses bolting at almost twice the rate of their female counterparts, according to a new study..."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/06/health/main521057.shtml

siggie13 · Jan 17, 2008

very good article but are hospitals listening and striving to make changes...i don't think so.

i got burned out after 40 years of nursing, not because of my physical job, because of having to deal with no staff, broken equipment, no staff, no staff., not enough time off. i never could convince upper management that more competent bodies on the floor would make all the difference to staff and patient satisfaction and help to retain all the good nurses who were leaving. i found that it was usually the good nurses who left because they couldn't deal with giving poor care anymore and got tired of staying over trying to get their patients' needs met.

i was talking with an experience nurse friend of mine and we both mentioned that neither one of us had ever been asked our opinion about how our floor could function better by upper management. they knew best, even tho they never did the work.

i just got tired of hitting my head against that brick wall of corporate greed and left. :banghead: :bugeyes: