Emotional fatigue, sleep disturbances, and pure exhaustion are just a few of the consequences of nurse burnout. 

What exactly is nurse burnout? You may have heard this phrase tossed around the healthcare workplace once or twice. Burnout has many definitions, but it boils down to physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. 

When a nurse experiences burnout, it can have a major impact on patient safety and overall healthcare quality. Burnout affects patient care outcomes and nurses’ well-being. Therefore, reducing nurse burnout is essential to improve patient outcomes.

But why are nurses so burned out? Burnout is a multifaceted problem that needs to be addressed. 

Here’s a look at how nurse burnout is a blazing problem across healthcare institutions worldwide and how improved staffing strategies can help alleviate this issue. 

Why are nursing professionals burned out?

Nursing professionals are burned out for many reasons.

Burnout is a psychological response to prolonged occupational stress. The nurse-patient relationship in a healthcare environment is challenging. Combine that with working long hours and irregular shifts, and you have a recipe for a lot of burned-out nursing professionals. 

A study by the Journal of Medicine and Public Health, titled “Effects of Stress and Burnout among NHS Adult Nurses in the UK,” found that causes of burnout and stress among adult nurses in the UK include “high workloads, long shifts, conflict with other service providers, and poor facilities at the workplace.”

If these factors sound unsettling, that’s because they are. 

Here are the top reasons why nursing professionals are burned out and experiencing psychological distress from this rewarding yet demanding profession: 

• Highly emotional labour: Nurses must constantly manage their emotions while handling and interacting with patients. This can lead to empathy fatigue. 
• Chronic understaffing: Chronic understaffing leads to an overworked and stressed-out nursing staff. With fewer nurses to cover shifts, nurses cannot adequately spread their attention among patients, leading to frustration and exhaustion.
• Lack of autonomy: Nurses are overworked and seek more flexibility in their schedules. A lack of autonomy, irregular shifts, and high stress can lead to job dissatisfaction and burnout. 

Psychological effects of burnout 

The psychological effects of burnout are just as concerning for nurses and patients alike. Burnout-related healthcare outcomes are something to take very seriously, as they greatly influence patient care and nurse well-being. 

Below are the psychological consequences for nurses who are feeling weighed down by their profession: 

• Increased risk of mental health conditions: Nurses who are experiencing the psychological effects of burnout could be more prone to mental health conditions. One report by the International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, titled “Nurses’ stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout in the workplace: A correlational study,” shows that nursing burnout has been linked to stress, anxiety, and depression.
• Compassion fatigue: Compassion fatigue is when a healthcare professional is subjected to repeated traumatic stress, such as when a patient suffers. The consequences of compassion fatigue are emotional exhaustion, insomnia, headaches, and other psychological disturbances. 
• Turnover intentions: Turnover intentions can be aggravated when nurses are plagued by burnout and have reached a level where they are no longer satisfied with their jobs. Due to these negative psychological effects, nurses may call out, ask for more leave time, or quit their jobs altogether. This issue may lead to lower nurse retention rates for the facility. 

Psychological disturbances in nurses can lead to grave consequences for patients. 

Here’s how nurse burnout impacts healthcare quality: 

• Increased medical errors: The connection between nurse burnout and medical errors is evident. Effects of emotional exhaustion in nursing can lead to missed symptom cues, rushed patient reporting, and poor continuity of care.
• Longer patient wait times: Nurse burnout can lead to understaffing, which in turn can lead to longer patient wait times. This can negatively impact patient satisfaction and overall quality of care in healthcare facilities. 

• Hospital readmissions: Hospital readmissions can result from nurse burnout, as a patient could leave the hospital uneducated or unaware of how to manage their aftercare. This could result from nurses spending little time educating patients due to emotional exhaustion or fatigue. 

Burnout is a slippery slope that starts with nurses and then trickles down the system, affecting a workforce’s well-being and patient care. But many facilities are learning how to prevent burnout, beginning with taking care of their nurses. 

How is burnout among nurses being addressed?

Every storm has a break in the clouds, and when it comes to nurse burnout, support can be that ray of sunlight. Facilities are implementing organizational strategies to fight nurse burnout, one step at a time, and are succeeding.

Here are some ways healthcare facilities are combating nurse burnout and creating supportive workplaces: 

• Improved staffing practices: Facilities that improve staffing practices and facilitate better nurse-to-patient ratios will notice a drop in burnout. This can be done by allowing in-house clinicians to choose their schedules, contracting per diem nurses, and closing the gaps in coverage. 
• Mental health and peer support programmes: Mental health and peer support programmes are popping up in healthcare facilities worldwide. Through stress management and other approaches, these programmes aim to support nurses suffering from a range of issues affecting their professional and personal lives.
• Policy and legislative change: Over the years, a few legislative bills and acts have helped combat the healthcare staffing crisis, but more momentum is needed. In the U.K., the National Health Service (NHS) is crucial in addressing nurse staffing levels and systematically reviewing relative workloads.  

Better support for nurses means better outcomes for all

Nurse burnout isn’t just a healthcare issue. It’s a human issue. 

Nurses around the world need more positive support that helps them build their morale and stay motivated and emotionally content. 

What does better support for nurses look like? 

• Flexible staffing methods
• Mental support services
• Legislative change

This support will lead to better outcomes for all patients, facilities, and nurses. 

The first step is the awareness that healthcare institutions need to change. The next step is to make a difference by incrementally implementing organizational modifications that prioritise the well-being of nurses.

Adam Mulligan, a psychology graduate from the University of Hertfordshire, has a keen interest in the fields of mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.