The Role Of Fatigue In Nursing

Due to the rapidly changing health care system and the reduction of resources, nursing demands are greater which has led to work related stress and ultimately nursing burnout. (Hayes, Douglas, & Bonner, 2014; Kushner & Ruffin, 2015; Laschinger et al., 2003; Slatten, Carson & Carson, 2011). Nursing burnout impacts both the performance and profitability of a healthcare organization in addition to adversely affecting patient outcomes (Jennings, 2008; Kushner & Ruffin, 2015; Laschinger et al., 2003). Ordinarily for nurses, making a difference by caring for and helping others is gratifying (Hayes et al., 2014; Slatten et al., 2011); however nurses have had to endeavor several unfavorable circumstances such as long work hours, compassion fatigue, physical labor, human adversities, staffing shortages, lack of breaks, advanced technology, and poor interpersonal work relationships (Hayes et al., 2014; Jennings, 2008; Slatten et al., 2011); thus the effects of sustained exposure to increasingly demanding professional work conditions brought on by doubt and concern results in decreased nursing satisfaction, lack of perceived support, psychological difficulties such as demoralization,

Another studies revealed the effects of burnout on quality of nursing care. One study show that

The strains on the healthcare field can eventually lead to physical,mental and emotional exhaustion also known as burnout. As caretakers,educators,and lifelines, nurses are responsible for the many roles they carry as they continue to give care to patients day in and day out. One of the most common reasons nurses are stressed is the patient to nurse ratio. For instance, a nurse may be taking care of 6 patients when he or she should only be taking care of 4.

Burnout is classified viewed in three phases. The first phase of burnout is the arousal phase. The nurse shows anxiety, insomnia, forgetfulness, inability to concentrate, feelings of beings overwhelmed, frustration, sadness, and new physical symptoms, such as headaches and stomach problems. If the nurse does not recognize that these symptoms require intervention, the second phase is energy conservation. In this phase, the nurse starts to call in sick to work; o she may be chronically late getting to duty. Deadlines are not met, a cynical or resentful attitude develops, a persistent sense of fatigue pervades both are the nurse’s personal and professional’s life.

What was once thought of as a profession driven by compassion and the desire to help those in need has now become filled with weary burnt out nurses who have lost sight of their purpose. Stress has caused them to distance themselves from the principles nursing is built upon. Our health care system needs to be revamped to improve the quality of care being administered. Nurses can be proactive and take steps to avoid burning out but, our health care administrators have to take matters into their hands because they have the capacity to initiate change. They must realize the gravity of the situation and take an offensive position to make a stand against the crisis of nursing

Burnout affects many of the nurses these days. There are many factors that contribute to a burnout. Sometimes people do not even realize that they are heading towards a burnout. In this research paper it talks about the negative consequences of a burnout in nursing. For example, it can lead to a decreased immune system that will make the body vulnerable to colds and flus (Smith, M., Segal, J., Robinson, L., & Segal, R. June, 2016). It also talks about the risk factors like the age and their gender because these associate with burnout. Another one that will be mentioned is recommendations for burnout nurses. This includes eating a healthy diet, exercising, seeking support, reevaluating priorities, and changing the way people look

Transformational Leadership is the moral ability of a person to make sound judgment and wise decision to influence and inspire others to perform the best outcome even in the critical situation. It is the ability to guide others not just in words, but also by example. Nurses are able to cultivate trust and harmony and establish good relationship with their patients and co-workers through effective and constant communication and intervention. They respond to the basic needs and expectation (Rousel, 2011), they set aside their personal interest for the benefit of their patients and the organization.

Leadership has many definitions. Chin, Desormeaux, and Sawyer (2016) define leadership as a relationship between followers and a leader with the intent to promote change through a mutual vision. Therefore, leaders are active influences in the outcome of organizations, through their decision-making, strategies, and influence on followers (Dinh et al., 2014). Additionally, in the nursing context, it has been documented that a leader 's style plays a factor in patient outcomes (Fischer, 2016). Indeed, in an ever-changing, complex health care environment, nursing leadership has become a crucial factor in managing challenges and maintaining patient safety (Fischer, 2016). To accommodate for these challenges, the Canadian Nurses Association [CNA]

Nurses fatigue is growing problem nurse face each day in the healthcare environment, and he can be caused by long hours, sleep deprivation, and possibly by accepting extra assignments can be dangerous for both nurses and patient. These inadequacies can result in major implications for the health and safety of registered nurses and can compromise patient care which can lead to fatalities. (American Nurses Association, 2014). In my experience, being fatigued from working much 12-hour shifts consecutively was very difficult as I felt extremely tired, resulting in lack of focus, missing important details during the handing over the process with impaired cognitive functioning. This I found was detrimental to the patients and myself as it impedes quality and has a deleterious effect on patient safety.

In nursing, burnout appears to be a common phenomenon worldwide. The nurse burnout is associated with poor job satisfaction among nurses and decreased perception of quality of care by patients. Thus, more research studies are needed to identify the measures that can effectively prevent the nurse burnout. It is important to consider nurse burnout as a vital issue, need urgent action from the organizational and Governmental levels .Developing, testing, and implementing intervention programs to reduce nurse burnout may keep nurses in clinical positions, and maintaining or raising quality of care (Poghosyan, Clarke, Finlayson, & Aiken,

I thought about nursing burnout through watching the video by speaker Madelyn Blaire. Burnout is categorized as physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. Burnout can lead to dulled emotions and detachment. I wonder why nurses are burning out.

Nursing burn out is at an all-time high. Hospitals are adding more and more to what nurses do on a daily basis and nurse to patient ratio is forever changing. In Jill’s situation, she was a very happy nurse placed in a horrible situation. ICU nursing is not the easiest, and Jill definitely got the bad deal of the deck with she started working on the ICU floor. Nurses and physicians were overwhelmed and burn out, setting a very stressful atmosphere for everyone including Jill, making it hard for Jill to be happy in the decision she made to become and ICU nurse.

Nurse fatigue increases medical errors that threaten patients’ safety and outcome; put nurses own health in danger.

A nursing manager aspiring to become a leader must be committed to excellence and passion for patient’s advocacy, employee’s protection and be a role model, living by example. He or she needs to learn to take control of issues and handle them as a good leader should instead to reporting all issues to the leader in charge. He or she assist the employees and protect them from being molested by both internal and external forces. They help to prevent unnecessary retrenchment of staff but rather redistribute them to other departments where their services are more useful. The nurse manager helps to motivate the workers by rewarding them financially and non-financially. He also inspire the nurses to provide a better patients care and become more productive and satisfied in their

(Cherry, 2016) Autocratic leaders normally settle on decisions in view of their thoughts, ideas and judgments and rarely acknowledge guidance or advice from followers. Autocratic leadership includes absolute, authoritarian control over a gathering. primary characteristics of autocratic leadership include, practically no contribution from members, group leaders manage all the work method, strategies and procedures, group members are infrequently trusted with choices or important assignments or tasks and lastly leaders settle on the choices and decisions. Autocratic leadership can be advantageous at times but there are additionally many occasions where this style can be problematic. Individuals who abuse an autocratic style are regularly seen as controlling, bossy which can prompt to hatred among members. For example, eighteen years experience unit manager was promoted to chief nursing officer. She has an even tempered identity and by and gets along well with subordinate representatives, she doesn't need her authority or choices to be questioned. She settles on each significant decision that includes and involves the operations of the nursing division and won't assign any part of her decision making, regardless of the possibility that the decisions would effortlessly fall within the level of power of the house supervisors or unit manager. She expects that every subordinate representative will obey orders without openly questioning the methods of reasoning. She doesn't put a high value on innovation or creativity and also does not request information, thoughts, ideas or feedback from the floor nursing staff. The activities of the nursing office staff are controlled through disciplines, written policies, punishment and the fulfilment of tasks. In this way, autocratic leaders more often