One Contemporary Nursing Issue Impacting On the Profession - Term Paper Example

One Contemporary Nursing Issue Impacting On the Profession Name: Institution: Instructor: Date: Introduction This paper is a discussion on one contemporary nursing issue that is impacting the profession. As the nursing career continues to grow, the community and the society continue to see a decrease n the number of contemporary issues that the profession is facing today. Today there are over 120,000 nursing vacancies in hospitals and this form 75% of all job vacancies in our hospitals today. Today, the registered nurses are at the top of the list of occupations that are projected to have a job growth. However, the question that lingers on one’s mind after all these facts is why are numerous nurses parting the profession, resulting in a shortage of nurses? The shortage of nurses has lead to increased pressure in the emergency department among other department in Australian hospitals. This has been worsened by the inadequate access to special services and primary care. This has resulted to a change in the patient’s attitudes towards the nurses and their perceptions on seeking medical care. The increased pressure has led the nurses to sag in their performance ability which is a vital component in the healthcare safety net. Due to all this problems in the hospital environment, the nursing workforce is experiencing greater workloads. The increase in the nursing workload is associated with the increase in burnout cases and job dissatisfaction among the nurses. These are the precursors to the voluntary turnover that is a major contribution to the understaffing of nurses in hospitals and poor outcomes among the patients. Research has shown that more than 40% of the staff nurses in hospitals score high in job related burnout, and this leads to one in every five nurses leaving the profession within a period of one year (Lynch & Trenoweth 2008). Consumers rank the overworking of the healthcare professions and the understaffing of nurses as the two main threats to the culture of patients. Research carried out on job related burnout among nurses; suggest that within the work environment, organizational stressors are very important determinants of subsequent voluntary turnover and burnout. Job related burnout is described as a syndrome of emotional depression and exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion is where a person feels exhausted by day to day work and overextended. Depression is a feeling that most people experience towards recipients of care, treatment or instruction that they offer to others. The reduction in personal accomplishment is a description of feelings of unsuccessful achievements or incompetence of ones work to others. The most used measure of burnout is the MBI ( Maslach burnout inventory), this includes subscales that are purported for the measurement of the tree dimensions but also does not recommend their combination into a single measure (Lynch & Trenoweth 2008). Burnout has been associated with negative outcomes in the health of patient and for human service workers. The negative effects for the workers include somatic complaints, physiological distress, and drug and alcohol abuse. For the health institutions, burn out among the employees can lead to decreased performance, turnover, absenteeism, employee tardiness and difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff among others. In the healthcare facilities that experience high levels of nurse burnout have lower chances of achieving top performance characteristics such as patient-centeredness that was set forth by the institute of medicine as a way of improving the quality of healthcare offered in the healthcare institutions (Timmins 2005). Using the MBI, research has shown that depression is negatively related to the satisfaction among patients within the nursing environment. However, emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishments were not related to patient satisfaction. There are also negative relations among the nurses emotional exhaustion and the satisfaction among patients within the four dimensions of hospital care. These are nurse, the doctors, information and the outcomes of the care offered. Causes of stress and burnout There are specific stressors in the working environment of nurses that lead to stress and eventual burnout. They vary among different occupations and among different individuals in a similar occupation. The work environment provides the root of all burnout, however, since not all individuals in the same work environment experience burnout, there must be some personal risk factors that play a role in making any individual vulnerable (Timmins 2005). Work Environment Factors Burnout is more likely to happen among the nurses experiences do not match one or more situational factors in the healthcare environment. The most common mismatches that lead t burn out among the nurses in the healthcare environment include (Lynch & Trenoweth 2008) Work overload- this includes the limitation that healthcare institutions experience in terms of staff, resources and time. Lack of control- this is where the nurses are not able to perform their functions in ways that they believe to be right. Insufficient rewards- the nurses can suffer burnout if they are not acknowledged for the work that they do in their work environment and when they lack opportunities to advance in their careers. It has been noted that lack of fairness when there is inequality in the workload, payment and in other signs of professional respect conflict in values when there are disagreements in the job requirements of a health facility and a nurse’s personal principle. Absence of community- when nurses experience poor working relationships and there is absence inadequate supervisory, peer support and poor leadership styles. Personal Risk Factors Studies have been carried out on the demographic values in relation to burnout among nurses several have been found to have an influence in the risk of burnout. They include ethnicity, age, family status, educational status, and gender and personality traits. Burnout is less prevalent among the older nurses since they have a better understanding of their working environment due to lots of years of skills that they have and their more balanced perspective of life. In addition to this, there is an increased rate of burnout among younger nurses which is a function of the survival of the fittest concept. Burnout is more prevalent in the nurses who are at the beginning of their profession and when they get burned-out, most leave the profession. As a result of this remaining individuals in the profession are termed as survivors (Cowen & Moorhead 2006). Signs and symptoms of stress and burnout An exclusive examination of the courses, types and frequencies of symptoms can e used to help in the distinguishing of signs of burnout. Drug history can also be used to identify potential problems of substance abuse. Among healthcare workers, burnout is associated with these characteristics with additional unique features. Physical Effects Burnout and stress have been linked to various somatic conditions that vary in the degree of severity stress is a known major contribution to several diseases and conditions that include cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, respiratory illness, headaches, insomnia and accidental injuries. Fatigue is the most common physical feature of stress among nurse in the health care profession (Cowen & Moorhead 2006). Psychological Effects Burnout and stress are associated with an increase in the rages of physiological symptoms. These include anger and depression. Depressed individuals warrant careful evaluation to ensure that the depressions they are familiarity with, are as a result of a burnout syndrome. Substance abuse is also a common drawback among depressed nurses (Barbara Cherry 2010). Interpersonal/Social Effects Social and interpersonal relationships can also be compromised by burnout among nurses. Nurses and other individuals who experience burnout have difficulty in communicating with their fellow colleges in the healthcare surroundings as well as with their associates and family members. The condition can lead people to treat others with suspicion and have critical attitudes towards others. The ability to communicate effectively in a healthcare environment is crucial to the patient outcomes, and when nurses experience burnout, this can affect their ability to work effectively in their respective fields compromising the effectiveness of the whole facility. The rates of burnout and stress among nurses are much higher when compared to the rates among other professions ion the healthcare environment. Approximately 40% of nurses in hospitals have a higher burnout level than the norm in health care workers. Studies have also shown that the prevalence of burnout among the nurses is much higher for nurses who are working in stressful environments. This includes areas such as critical care, emergency medicine and mental health (Burkhardt et al 2010). There are several aspects that are unique to the working environment of nurses that add to their vulnerability to burnout. Nurses spend a lot of tome each day involving themselves in the care of patients; they experience extended shifts and overtime. The long hours are spent engaged in high numbers of interpersonal relationships and are subject to high demands both physical and emotional. This leave the nurses fatigued and with insufficient energy for them to cope with stress effectively. Secondly, the changes that are experienced in the delivery of healthcare leave the nurses with uncertain and dissolution feelings. Finally nurses make efforts for them to overcome the traditional domination f physicians and the relationships among the nurses and physicians have been documented to be common stress contributions among nurses in the healthcare professions (Barbara Cherry 2010). Burnout and stress are direct consequences s of job dissatisfaction, and a better thoughtful of the causes and prevalence of job dissatisfaction among nurses can help in the definition of stress and burnout. The rates of extreme or moderate job dissatisfaction rage from 7% to 15% among practice settings with the highest rates of dissatisfaction being found among staff, nurses, supervisors and nurse clinicians and the lowest rates found among the nurse midwives and nurse practitioners. Conclusion Levels of burnout are high among healthcare professions; the effects of the syndrome have serious consequences in the nursing profession. High levels of burnout among nurse has lead to a shortage in nurses and this poses a threat to the safety of patients and the quality of patient care offers in the healthcare facilities. Studies have shown that factors in the work environment are great predictors of job dissatisfaction and stress among nurses and other professions in the healthcare environment. To address this issue and prevent the occurrences of burnout nurses should maintain professional and personal lifestyles habits that will help them remain health and engaged in other activities rather than just their professions and remain connected with their families and friends. This will ensure that they maintain a balance in their work and life that will fit their overall priorities. References Barbara Cherry, S. R. ( 2010). Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends, & Management. New york: Elsevier. Burkhardt, M. A., Nathaniel, A. K., & Walton, N. A. (2010.). Ethics & issues in contemporary nursing. Toronto: Nelson Education. Cowen, P. S., & Moorhead, S. (2006). Current issues in nursing. St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier. Lynch, J. E., & Trenoweth, S. (2008.). Contemporary issues in mental health nursing. Chichester: J. Wiley. Timmins, F. (2005). Contemporary Issues In Coronary Care Nursing. Boston: Routledge. Read More