Level Of Stress In Nursing

Stress refers to a dynamic interaction between the individual and the environment. In this interaction, demands, limitations and opportunities related to work may be perceived as threatening to surpass the individual's resources and skills. Stress is any physical or psychological stimulus that disturbs the adaptive state and provoked a coping response

Being a nurse is one of the hardest jobs, including one of the lowest paying for the workload nurses take on. Nurses go through years of schooling, and many nurses often end up disliking their chosen profession. There seems to always be a shortage of nurses so many nurses are more than often overworked and underpaid. Having another individual’s health hang in your balance can cause mental and physical exhaustion which can eventually lead to nurse burnout. Many nurses that work in high-stress environments and not having the proper training or enough assistance can lead to serious mistakes in patient care. In order for patients to receive the right care, they must have willing and compassionate care by nurses and doctors to treat and heal them.

Among such psychological stressors is the development of the burnout syndrome. Often, burnout among health care professionals affects the outcome of health care facilities such as the quality of services offered and the safety of the care provided. The development of burnout among health care workers is work overload. Health workers live a stressful life day after day. This stress is looked at as a risk factor for health care workers across the world, in regards to safety

(Abdulla, Al-Qahtani, & Al-Kuwari, 2011). One study revealed that burnout syndrome is common among critical care nurses, because they work with more critical and traumatic patients burnout syndrome is not only affect the nurse but extend to their quality of care that delivered for their patient.(Moss, Good, Gozal, Kleinpell, & Sessler., 2016). Organizational and environment factors such as excessive workload, staffing shortage, lack of empowerment lead to burnout which compromise nurse’s ability to provide high quality care. ( McHugh, Kutney, Cimiotti, Sloane, & Aiken., 2011). Burnout ,quality of care and patients outcome Different studies have explained the relation between burnout syndrome, stress in work environment ,and patients satisfaction which assessed the quality of nursing care provided, the high quality care the more patient satisfaction.

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.

amplify their tolerance because next threatening events emphasise inoculation need to keep covered among nursing curricular or staff improvement programmes However in imitation of avoiding ‘ reproof the victim’, the nurse who succumbs in imitation of burnout because, over boisterous environmental stressors, emphasis inoculation ought to stay united along organizational strategies in imitation of civilizing high-quality deed condition. A study was done to investigate the relationship between personality traits, perception of workplace stress and coping among intensive care unit (ICU) nurses A convenience sample of critical care nurses (n=46) completed three standardized questionnaires during September 2007: the revised NEO personality inventory

In the healthcare industry, nurses are the workers that do a lot to ensure quality patient care, and therefore, physicians, administrative employees, and patients expect much from them. Due to a shortage of nurses in the industry, and their dedication to ensure quality of care, they work long hours. Long working hours combined with a shortage of nurses lead to burnout, which affects quality of patient care. As a result, this has a direct negative impact on patient safety. Thus, for every increase in the demand for nursing services, the quality of patient care declines with increased patient interaction.

The impact of nurse fatigue resulting from extended work hours, sleeplessness and accepting extra assignments can lead to numerous problems; some of these problems include but not limited to the following; inability to focus, reduced motivation, impaired or lack of communication, delayed reaction time to a critical event that can occur, example, code call. Personal injury can occur that poses an occupational hazard for nurses since serious injuries can occur of varying degree. The nurses’ duty can be physically demanding which can have a negative effect on patient safety and workforce health (Repique,

All of which reveal the same compelling evidence that in fact higher levels of burnout are correlated with nurse rated quality of care. This specific study was done through survey analysis and several countries were a part of it. The goal was to see the connections between quality of patient care and burnout. Various topics were included on the matter.

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. Today the proportion of acute patients entering the health care system through emergency

A primary factor in risking patient safety is to have a high nurse-to-patient ratio. Hospitals and nursing homes must have policies and guidelines in place for the nurse-to-patient ratios, but the policies are continuously fluctuating to compensate for the shortage. In order for nurses to want to stay in this field, benefits and policies need to be modified. Everything is like a domino effect, if the nurses aren’t well rested and able to work properly the patients suffer. “Examining survey data from 95,499 nurses, we found much higher job dissatisfaction and burnout among nurses who were directly caring for patients in hospitals and nursing homes than among nurses working in other jobs or settings, such as the pharmaceutical industry.

According to the data from Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions (2013), there were 2.8 million Registered Nurses (RNs) and 690,000 Licensed Practice Nurses (LPNs) were working in the period from 2008-2010, in the United States. The nursing workforce grew substantially in 2000s, by RNs growing by more than 24.1 percent and LPNs by more than 15.5 percent. The population of nurses are facing multiple challenges at the workplace, such as shortage in staffing, nurse turnover, increased workload, long working hours, poor relationship with co-workers, lack of support from the management, and eventually these challenges create high level of nurse burnout. It is estimated that job- related burnout measure using the Maslach Burnout inventory – Human Services Survey, 36.5 % of nurses having high level of burnout. The researchers at the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing, estimates if nurse burnout reduces by 10 %, could prevent thousands of hospital acquired infections and reduce the health care expense (Potera, 2012).

Due to shortages, nurses often need to work long hours under demanding conditions. Nursing is not a nine to five work; when there is a patient in need of help, nurses don’t leave them there and go home; nurses work overtime almost everyday. Nurses who have not worked in the medical field before may have to work hours way beyond their comfort zone and be expected to become accustomed to the hours. Nurses working in these environments are more likely to making mistakes and medical errors. An unfavorable outcome is that patient quality can suffer, resulting in a range of preventable complications, including medication errors, emergency room overcrowding, and more frightening, increased mortality rates.

It is crucial to maintaining the appropriate nurse-to- patient staffing ratio for providing safe patient care outcomes. Nursing shortage lowers the nurse to patient ratio that can increase medical and medication errors, patient complication, mortality and also increase dissatisfaction and burnout among nurses. According to researcher Shekelle, he found the significant relationship between high patient-to-nurse ratio and mortality rate. For example, in 232 342 patients discharges, post surgery of some hospitals in Pennsylvania, 2 percent (4535 patients) died within 30 days of hospitalization. As the result, this study found the difference between 4:1 and 8:1 ratios of the patient each nurse has may cause about 1000 deaths of the total amount

Large patient loads combined with a stressful work environment affects nurses’ abilities to provide quality healthcare. Patient safety should never be compromised. It is our responsibility to learn from research and improve our current nurse staffing ratios. Nurse staffing is key and affects all other outcomes. Without nurses administering the right treatment at the right time to the right patients, all other healthcare interventions are not effective.