Burnout Affects More Than Just Your Nurses
by Angela Brooks
If happy nurse employees are a key component to the business world in taking care of patients. Why are employers ignoring the morale of employees?
When nurses are stressed, over worked, and the “do not” and “cannot” list is larger than the “can do” the morale begins to lower and the results show up in increased absenteeism and employee turnover. Which eventually, will begin affecting patient care.
Low Morale
It is not kept in a bottle on a shelf that gets spilled once in a while. When you have low morale it is like the plaque and takes over the hospital rolling through like slime. It crawls under doors and infects the mood in every room.
Nurses are people too!
Nurses typically work in a fast paced work situation. They watch people hurt, they see them die, they are the ear that listens, the face that gets yelled at, the person who gets the blame when there is no one else to push it over to. Your body aches from helping lift people that are bigger than you. No matter what patient load is, or your staffing is; you are expected to give not good care but great care to all of your patients, mistake free.
Some days it is all about attitude
Nurses rarely work the 9-5 jobs with weekends and holidays off. For 21 years I worked the 6pm-7am shift and every other holiday and missed so many family events that I lost count. It would be a lie to say that it did not bother me – just like it bothers the one that is working with me. However, the mindset that we choose when we walk onto the job can make the shift good or bad. Most of the time I had a crew and we decided to make it the best shift we could, by being with awesome nurses, well, most of them. We have a choice how we are going to feel – it sets the mood for those around you and for the people you are taking care of.
Who cares about Morale?
You should! I should – and those I work with should. The vast majority of work places that have happy loyal employees have figured this out. People do not require an expensive gym membership to keep their employees enthusiastic. Studies have shown that when workers feel they are valued, their productivity increases, and absenteeism, turnover and work-related conflicts decrease.
WHY you need Happy Nurses
A happy nurse’s body language speaks to those around her before she ever says the first word. Her patient knows if she wants to be taking care of them within a few words of conversation.
Burnout affects more than just your nurses. When morale is low, your entire facility is vulnerable to the negative effects of increased absenteeism and employee turnover. And when your staff is stressed, strained and overworked, normal challenges such as fatigue and memory loss can lead to bigger problems that will eventually impact patient care. Give your nurses and support staff the tools they need to work through burnout and get back to doing what they do best taking care of your patients.
| Would you like to use this article on your blog, ezine, or newsletter? You have my permission to share it in its entirety with the following blurb below: |
.jpg "Breaking the Chains When You Want More and Do Not Know Where to Find It")
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/angelabrooks
Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaBrooksBiz
Pin with me on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/angelambrooks/
Wonderful insights to the workings of the Human spirit…that can actually be applied in all areas of live. We all need to feel appreciated and valued! Great article!
Good for employee’s at any company.
Nice post.
-AJ
Hi Angela,
It is such an important subject and yet ignored! Thanks for bringing it to light!
Angela…its an awesome list for burnout for ANY industry but of course a nurses life it not a normal or typical one so the stressors can be that much greater! Love that you shared this!
A burnout is not a good thing for people; their morals and thei attitude goes down. So, the best thing is to avoid it by taking care of yourself.
Happy nurses are critical to a functioning health care system. Unfortunately, most of the public have no idea the stresses nurses are under. Thank you for all you do!
Angela how I would love to work beside you. Each note you send me, each time we speak on the phone you are an encouragement to me. My frustration or stress is instantly relieved when you speak “life” over me and my abilities. Thank you Angela for setting the pace and the tone at your place of employment. You are the leader the nurses need and have walked miles in their shoes. They will change their morale with your leadership.
Pingback: Nurse Burnout – What is next?
we have had some wonderful conversations!! Miss you Carla
Nursing management is a large part of the problem here. While we have lots of great individuals in these important roles, they are set up for failure. They typically have little orno education or training relevant to their role, relying instead on experience in staff Nursing, folklore and improvisation. They supervise far more employees than comparable level managers in other industries, with far less control over policy and budget. They work in an industry that raises customer expectations for service and care, but actually focuses on profit with little real competition or other incentives to provide the service promised. They swim in a sea of complex and ever-changing and often contradictory regulations and policies. They are overwhelmingly rewards or punished not based on anything that happens at the bedside, but instead on how well they please those above them and don’t make waves. If you read Dilbert (as I do), you see a level of corporate managerial dysfunction that is laughingly benign compared to the norm in Nursing, which explains the remarkably high turnover in managerial roles, and the ever-present job postings. It is a thankless, soul-sucking role that attracts a few saints, and many more people who care only about themselves. The results speak for themselves.