By Tarynn Ocampo
Many nurses worldwide experience burnout. According to American Nurse Enterprise (2024, April 25), in a study from 2020, a survey indicated that 62% of nurses experience it. Burnout is defined as a mental or physical collapse due to two main factors: overwork and stress. Nurses around the world feel physically drained and emotionally overwhelmed due to a variety of factors. These aspects include long working hours, heavy workloads, lack of support, and emotional stress from caring for patients. Burnout not only affects their mental state, but the quality of care they provide for their patients. As the foundation of hospitals and clinics, nurses deserve better support and the youth can play a role in helping. Even through simple posts of appreciation, the youth can leave a lasting impact on nurses worldwide to make a difference in the lives of nurses globally.
Delving Deeper Into The Causes of Burnout in Nurses
As previously stated, one of the main factors present in the burnout of nurses are long working hours. Studies indicate that working 12-hour shifts are harmful to both nurses and the patients they care for. Adding on, lack of sleep is a large burnout risk for nurses globally. A study indicated that only 27.2% of nurses get at least six hours of sleep before shifts. Poor work environments can also be a contributing factor to exhaustion in nurses. Poor management issues, poor leadership, and lack of teamwork are all benefitting factors to a poor work environment. Adding on, a large number of patients being assigned to one nurse can cause stress, which can lead to fatigue. Lastly, emotional letdowns of dealing with low recovery or survival rate can act as an influencing factor in the exhaustion of nurses.
Understanding The Impact of Burnout on Nurses
- Negative Toll on The Mental Health of Nurses – Overtime, the factors of burnout in nurses can cause exhaustion, increased stress, and may possibly lead to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
- Damage on Physical Fatigue – Constant overwork and the feeling of exhaustion can cause sleep problems and headaches.
- Poor Performance During Shift Hours – Due to a negative impact on their lifestyle, mistakes due to exhaustion and stress are prone to happening which can lead to patient displeasure, medication errors, and possibly: death.
- Lack of Motivation – Nurses may feel unappreciated due to lack of encouragement in their poor working environment.
Empowering the Youth to Support Our Nurses
Understanding the contributing factors and impact of burnout on nurses, we can now see how much of a sacrifice our nurses make for not only their patients, but also for us. As members of the youth, we can all empower ourselves to support our nurses remotely and in real life world situations whether it be big or small. Remotely, we can spread awareness through social media posts, articles, or join organizations that appreciate nurses. We can show respect and educate other people about the nursing profession. In real life world situations, members of the youth can organize thank-you drives and wellness kits for nurses, and can volunteer in health programs. By taking these small yet impactful actions, the youth can become a powerful source of support for the nursing community.