Nurses Suffering from Burnout

Paper Summary:

This paper examines nurse burnout as a prevalent problem in many institutions. The paper explains that nurse burnout can be attributable to inadequate staffing and points out that the consequences of under-staffing are observed in terms of the decline in overall well-being of the nursing staff: staff exhaustion leading to high levels of stress and burnout, nurse dissatisfaction, absenteeism, and higher risk for disfranchisement from the profession. The paper then looks at the common method for calculating the nursing workload internally - the nurse-patient ratio. The paper concludes that while the evidence cited in the paper reflects different institutions, the extent to which burnout is seen should be assessed, as well as evaluated, to help find the possible contributing factors, both within and outside the hospital setting.

Outline:
Identification of Clinical Problem
Review of Literature
Research Critique
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Managers have attempted to adapt to the situation by maintaining flexibility in staff schedules depending on changing unit demands which are constantly changing. When a patient is so seriously ill that one nurse cannot perform care, one or more other nurses are needed for a limited time. At other times, such is not the case. However, the central problem in staffing is not attaining staff flexibility congruent to the unit's needs. The reality that it is not recognized by higher management, nor is it under the control of nurses further complicates the problem."

Sample of Sources Used:

• American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) (2005). AACN standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work environments, 1-44. Retrieved June 22, 2007 from http://www.aacn.org/aacn/pubpolcy.nsf/Files/HWEStandards/$file/HWEStandards.pdf
• Artz, M. (2005). Setting nurse-patient ratios. American Journal of Nursing, 105 (5), 97. Aiken, L. H., Clarke, S. P., Sloane, D. M. (2002). Hospital staffing, organization, and quality of care: Cross-national findings. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 14(1), 5-13. Retrieved June 22, 2007 fromhttp://www.cna-aiic.ca/CNA/documents/pdf/publications/RS_Inadequate_Staffing_e.pdf
• Donaldson N, Bolton LB, Aydin C, Brown D, Elashoff J &, Sandhu M. (2005). Impact of California's licensed nurse-patient ratios on unit-level nurse staffing and patient outcomes. Policy Polit Nurs Pract., 6(3), 198-210. Retrieved June 22, 2007 from the Pubmed Database.
• Mason, D. (2003). How many patients are too many? Legislating staffing ratios is good for nursing. American Journal of Nursing, 103 (11), 7.
• McGillis Hall, L., Doran, D., Baker, G. R., Pink, G. H., Sidani, S., O'Brien-Pallas, L., & Donner, G. J. (2003). Nurse staffing models as predictors of patient outcomes. Medical Care, 41(9), 1096-1109. Retrieved June 22, 2007 from http://www.cna-aiic.ca/CNA/documents/pdf/publications/RS_Positive_Patient_Outcome_e.pdf

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