Question

Discussion Prompt

Choose ONE of the following trends that you see in your workplace. Discuss what you are seeing including data if available. As a leader, what strategies have you learned about in this module that could be helpful in building a stronger work environment. Do not select the trend you discussed in the week 2 discussion. Cite references to support your viewpoints.

Trends

• A growing nursing shortage
• Higher turnover of staff
• Retention challenges with Millennial Staff
• Staff disengagement
• Staff burnout
• Incivility and bullying
• Unionization

Expectations

Initial Post:

• Length: 150 - 250 Words

Answer 1

Staff Burnout (as a nurse leader role )

Most commonly, burnout is the result of being overworked and under-appreciated, and often, employees end up with more on their plate than they can get done even by doing overtime. On the flip-side, burnout also occurs when employees are bored or depressed and become under-stimulated. Others experience burnout because they are fearful of losing their job and feel insecure about their level of work, or are unclear about job expectations

While preventing employee burnout is quite a feat, catching the warning signs is not as difficult. Be on the lookout for:

• Unexplained absences from work
• Showing up to work late/leaving early
• Decrease in productivity
• Apparent frustration
• Decline in health
• Lack of enthusiasm
• Isolation

Nurse leaders play an important role in recognizing, intervening, and preventing burnout. As research and understanding of the issue improve, nurse leaders are finding more effective ways to stop negative habits from escalating and to prevent burnout from taking hold in the first place. Protecting clinical staff from burnout is dependent on nurse leaders confronting the reality of burnout and working to counter it at every possible point of influence.           

Warning Signs of Nurse Burnout

A major strength of effective nurse leadership is strong relationships and interpersonal communication. However, leaders will need additional resources and awareness to identify burnout among their charges. The contributing factors that lead to burnout can be very personal as well as subtle, such as:

Increasing sick days and callouts;

Missing deadlines or neglecting certain tasks;

Withdrawing from relationships and opportunities to socialize;

Getting frustrated with little inconveniences, or preoccupied with minor details

Nurses new to a hospital or fresh out of school can be just as susceptible to burnout as veteran staff. It is common for staff suffering from chronic stress to carry on working and keeping up appearances, making it harder for others to recognize when someone is simply tired or having an off day, and when they are struggling with burnout.

As A Effective nurse leaders should have formal policies as well as informal cultural mechanisms in place to help identify burnout, such as regular nursing team huddles as well as more casual points of contact to ask teammates how they are doing and encourage staff to take breaks or talk through specific challenges. Not only can this help nurses work through their issues, but it can also give nurse leaders more insight into the daily stresses their staff face and more points of contact for assessing the health and attitudes of their staff. Initiatives by nurse leaders to facilitate this kind of engagement and feedback help express leadership’s trust in, and compassion for, the nursing staff. Showing this trust and support can foster a dynamic relationship wherein everyone is a resource and takes responsibility for one another.

Understanding Workplace Stressors

To effectively combat burnout, nurse leaders must understand the risks and potential causes. Much of the time, burnout begins as chronic stress. While health care can be inherently stressful at times, nurse leaders must understand how that stress can go from ordinary and manageable to something more serious. By knowing what drives stress among staff, nurse leaders can aid recovery and even prevent escalation.

Additionally, the learning curve with respect to new technology has become a common source of stress and frustration among caregivers. Having to adjust workflows and change priorities to comply with new standards or policies can be disruptive and frustrating. This kind of change has been cited as a primary cause of burnout for many nurses, and even physicians      

The Role of the Nurse Leader in Addressing Workplace Stress

Training and ongoing education are routine duties of nurse leadership. Within these learning opportunities, nurse leaders can focus on providing their nursing staff with stress-management instruction, the development of coping skills, and collaborative discussions about how to remain compassionate yet safely detached. Nurse leaders can also be sensitive to concerns about technological disruption by providing training resources as well as administrative support to ensure all members of staff feel comfortable utilizing new tools and workflows and practicing self-care

The Importance of Nurse Mentoring

Helping struggling nurses focus on practicing a balanced, sustainable approach to compassionate care by mentoring and modeling effective emotional management is key for helping nurse leaders empower their staff. Mentoring can take many forms for nurse leaders, but typically entail practicing a few critical skills – listening, providing feedback, effective time management, and maintaining a presence among the nursing staff. Nurse leaders are also naturally in a position to have a positive influence simply by exhibiting positive stress-management and self-care behaviors, such as setting reasonable expectations for themselves and their teams, along with maintaining composure and showing a willingness to talk through stressors or other personal and emotional challenges.

Final word

anyone is susceptible to workplace burnout. Don’t think that your employees are immune to burnout just because you are fulfilled with your career. Take the time to evaluate your staff’s level of burnout and implement measures to deal with and prevent it. Each person has a different reaction to different jobs, and it is your job to make sure that employee and position can be molded together