Addressing Nurse Burnout: A Critical Priority

Addressing Nurse Burnout: A Critical Priority

Why Nurse Burnout Must Be a Priority in Healthcare Facilities

Addressing nurse burnout is a critical priority, not only from a moral and ethical standpoint, but also due to its significant clinical and operational consequences for both patients and healthcare organizations.

Clinical Impact: Increased nurse burnout is directly linked to higher patient mortality rates and longer hospital stays (Schlak et al., 2021). This correlation underscores the importance of maintaining a healthy, motivated nursing staff to ensure optimal patient outcomes.

Patient Satisfaction: Burnout among nurses leads to decreased patient satisfaction (Brooks Carthon et al., 2021). When nurses are overwhelmed and exhausted, their ability to provide compassionate and attentive care diminishes, directly affecting the patient experience.

Medical Errors and Infections: The incidence of medical errors rises with nurse burnout, which compromises patient safety (Melnyk et al., 2018). Additionally, burnout contributes to higher rates of hospital-acquired infections (Cimiotti et al., 2012), further jeopardizing patient health.

Organizational Turnover: High levels of burnout result in increased nursing turnover within healthcare organizations (Kelly et al., 2021). This turnover not only disrupts the continuity of care but also leads to significant financial costs related to hiring and training new staff.

The Role of Social Contagion in Nurse Burnout

Burnout among nurses can spread through social contagion, making it essential to address this issue collectively within healthcare facilities.

Impact on Colleagues: Research indicates that 26% of the variability in healthcare workers’ well-being, including burnout, can be attributed to the well-being of their colleagues (Sexton et al., 2022). This interdependence highlights the importance of fostering a supportive work environment where the well-being of each nurse positively influences their peers.

Comprehensive Interventions: To effectively combat nurse burnout, interventions should ideally include all nurses within a facility or, at the very least, all nurses working in the same department or shared workspace. This approach helps mitigate the spread of burnout through social contagion, promoting a healthier and more resilient workforce overall.

By addressing nurse burnout as a priority, healthcare facilities can improve patient outcomes, enhance patient satisfaction, reduce medical errors and infections, and lower nursing turnover rates. Implementing comprehensive interventions that consider the social contagion effect will further strengthen these efforts, ensuring a more supportive and sustainable work environment for all nurses.

 

Best Version Intervention

I offer in-person, small group interventions or online activity interventions to healthcare workers to decrease or prevent burnout and increase emotional recovery and thriving. Please contact me to arrange an intervention.

References:

  • Brooks Carthon, J. M., Hatfield, L., Plover, C., Dierkes, A., Davis, L., Hedgeland, T., … & Aiken, L. H. (2021). Influence of nurse practitioner scope-of-practice regulation on health care delivery: Systematic review. Nursing Outlook, 69(5), 917-925.
  • Cimiotti, J. P., Aiken, L. H., Sloane, D. M., & Wu, E. S. (2012). Nurse staffing, burnout, and health care–associated infection. American Journal of Infection Control, 40(6), 486-490.
  • Kelly, L. A., Gee, P. M., & Butler, R. J. (2021). Impact of nurse burnout on organizational and position turnover. Nursing Outlook, 69(1), 96-102.
  • Melnyk, B. M., Orsolini, L., Tan, A., Arslanian-Engoren, C., Melkus, G. D., Dunbar-Jacob, J., … & Lewis, L. M. (2018). A national study links nurses’ physical and mental health to medical errors and perceived worksite wellness. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 60(2), 126-131.
  • Schlak, A. E., Aiken, L. H., Chittams, J., Poghosyan, L., McHugh, M. D., & Sloane, D. M. (2021). Nurse burnout outcomes and their association with patient safety, missed care, and quality of care in a large cross-sectional study. JAMA Network Open, 4(10), e2127799.
  • Sexton, J. B., Adair, K. C., Proulx, J., Profit, J., Cui, X., Bae, J., & Frankel, A. (2022). Emotional exhaustion among US health care workers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2021. JAMA Network Open, 5(9), e2232748.