Question

Nurse Fatigue

April 12, 2021

Abstract

3

Nurse fatigue is a daunting problem that has been widely regarded as a threat to both nurse and patient health. Nurse exhaustion is described as an emotional feeling, mental or genuinely feeling drained or exhausted due to nursing demands ("Fighting the Effects of Nurse Fatigue," 2017). Nurse exhaustion is common due to high-strength responsibilities, a lack of sleep, and long work hours (Steege & Rainbow, 2017). According to Sun et al. (2018), approximately 57 percent to 83 percent of nurses worldwide record sleep deprivation, and the figures are inconceivable given the novel COVID-19 pandemic that has strained the global healthcare human resource. Nurse fatigue has been linked to increased nursing errors, poor job performance, and an increased risk of nurse and patient wounds. Nurses experiencing position-related fatigue show signs of sadness, a lack of enthusiasm, physical and enthusiastic exhaustion, and an uninterested demeanor (Sleep Loss: A Managerial Nightmare! - Free Online Library, n.d.). Fatigue can cause physical and mental problems and affect the type of patient care provided by nurses. Nurses and employers must take fatigue seriously because it can jeopardize a nurse's ability to offer a safe and reliable treatment to patients while also increasing the risk of patient and nurse accidents. Healthcare executives must recognize the effect of long work hours and, if necessary, recruit additional staff to offset the number of hours each nurse works. On the other hand, nurses owe it to themselves and their patients to ensure they get enough sleep before starting their shift. Nurse exhaustion can also be reduced by improving staffing, restricting consecutive shifts, limiting over time, limiting the number of hours worked each day to 12 or fewer, and respecting the nurses' days off (Sleep Loss: A Managerial Nightmare! - Free Online Library, n.d.).

Introduction

Institutions are abstracts, and their efficacy and success depend on the persons entrusted with the responsibility of seeing the provision of services in such institutions; the healthcare system is not an exception to this deposition. Nurses are often exposed to extreme sadness and misfortune, which has been linked to the development of burnout fatigue. Sympathy exhaustion refers to a lack of business-related satisfaction, but it may also refer to situations where the job brings more pain than happiness. The risk of empathy exhaustion varies from one nurse to the next, depending on their level of involvement and their role, with those dealing with more mature adults being at higher risk. Kolthoff & Hickman (2017) found that average levels of burnout, compassion fatigue, and compassion satisfaction were recorded by 42 nurses working on a geriatric medicine unit in an exploratory, descriptive study on compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout.

Nonetheless, the researchers discovered that new nurses on the unit reported higher levels of empathy exhaustion and burnout than seasoned nurses. Are new nurses who work with more experienced adults at increased risk of compassion exhaustion than experienced nurses due to the findings of this study? Enrolled nurses from the southern United States were examined in a correlational, cross-sectional quantitative study to establish a connection between medical clinic-based extreme concern nurses' level of reflection and their level of compassion exhaustion, job burnout, and optional horrendous strain (Urban, 2017). The article revealed some fascinating facts, such as the fact that nurses who scored 59.8% or higher on the GRAS, indicating a high level of reflection, had fewer cases of empathy exhaustion and burnout (Urban, 2017). Nurse fatigue affects the nurses' ability to deliver and reduces the quality of service issued to the patients, thus affecting the health outcome, and the new nurses who still have less experience are the most affected. There is a need for deliberative administrative and personal efforts to reduce nurse fatigue. These efforts by the nurses include having a sufficient sleep and on the side of the administration checking on the working hours of every nurse.

Literature Review

Discussion

Conclusion

References

Fighting the effects of nurse fatigue. (2017, May 19). American Nurse. https://www.myamericannurse.com/fighting-effects-nurse-fatigue/

Kolthoff, K. L., & Hickman, S. E. (2017). Compassion fatigue among nurses working with older adults. Geriatric Nursing (New York, N.Y.), 38(2), 106–109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2016.08.003

Sleep loss: A managerial nightmare! - Free Online Library. (n.d.). Retrieved April 22, 2021, from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sleep+loss%3A+a+managerial+nightmare!-a0461945707

Steege, L. M., & Rainbow, J. G. (2017). Fatigue in hospital nurses - "Supernurse" culture is a barrier to addressing problems: A qualitative interview study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 67, 20–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2016.11.014

Sun, Q., Ji, X., Zhou, W., & Liu, J. (2018, August 31). Sleep problems in shift nurses: A brief review and recommendations at both individual and institutional levels—Sun—2019—Journal of Nursing Management—Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jonm.12656

Urban, S. (2017). Nurses' Reflection, Compassion Fatigue, and Work Burnout—A Correlational Analysis. 185.

Annotated Bibliography