RESPONSE- NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NURSING PROFESSION ISSUES
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RESPONSE-NATIONALANDGLOBALNURSINGPROFESSIONISSUES.docxCE
Jan 12 10:59pm| Last reply Jan 13 8:13am
Reply from Chidinma Ezeobiagwu
Initial Post
The nursing profession is essential in providing healthcare, but it faces several problems that can have a big effect on patient care, the well-being of nurses, and the healthcare system as a whole. Nurse burnout is a major problem that has gotten a lot of attention, especially in the United States. It is marked by emotional fatigue, disengagement, and a decrease in personal achievement, ultimately impacting both the nurses and the quality of patient care (Li et al., 2024). Understanding the complexities of nursing burnout can assist in developing effective solutions to address it.
Description of Nurse Burnout
In recent years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, nurse burnout has been a serious problem, made worse by things like not having enough personnel, having too much work, and the stress of working in high-stress settings (Martin et al., 2023). Nurses frequently endure extended hours in demanding environments, resulting in fatigue that diminishes job satisfaction, elevates turnover rates, and compromises quality of care (Fekih-Romdhane et al., 2025). Rink et al. (2023) indicated that burnout among nurses reaches rates as high as 70%, underscoring the widespread prevalence of this issue within the profession. Burnout can make nurses feel helpless, unmotivated, and discontented about their profession, which can damage their mental health and job performance (Bhugra, 2025).
Personal Impact of Burnout
As a nurse, I can relate to the effects of burnout on both a personal and professional level. There have been times when I worked long shifts of more than 12 hours, and I was physically and mentally exhausted. For example, after a long and busy day in the ED, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of work I had to do, which made me feel like I wasn't doing enough when I couldn't give the level of care I wanted to. This feeling of being powerless can last long after my shift is over, changing how I feel and how I interact with my family and friends. Also, I've discovered that burnout has made it harder for me to keep a balance between work and life. I often bring my stress home, which affects my health and my relationships. There have been instances when I had to cancel arrangements with friends and family because I was too tired to be socially active. Burnout can also affect my work life in a negative way, making me more jaded about the healthcare system and doubting my choice of profession. This may not only make me less happy with my career, but it might also make me think about quitting the field completely if it isn't addressed.
How to Address Burnout Through Policy
To really tackle nurse burnout, big changes to policies are needed. One possible policy approach is to set required nurse-to-patient ratios that make sure nurses have manageable workloads. By setting minimum staffing levels in legislation, healthcare organizations would be responsible for keeping sufficient staff on hand. This would help reduce some of the stressors that lead to burnout (Costa & Friese, 2022). Moreover, establishing wellness initiatives that provide mental health resources, stress management training, and peer support networks can foster a culture of knowledge and support for mental health within the nursing field (Bailey et al., 2025). Additionally, pushing for nursing schools to teach students how to deal with burnout and build resilience will give future nurses the tools they need to handle the demands of the job (Strout et al., 2023).
In conclusion, healthcare systems should make nurse burnout a top concern because it affects both staffing and patient care. Legislative changes that focus on providing adequate staffing, mental health support, and continuing education can make the workplace for nurses more stable. By addressing the structural problems that cause burnout, we not only preserve nurses' health and well-being, but we also improve the care that patients receive, which benefits the whole healthcare system.
References
Bailey, A. K., Tao, H., & Sawyer, A. T. (2025). From research to practice: Implementing an evidence-based intervention for nurse well-being in a healthcare system. Healthcare, 13(18), 2369. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare13182369Links to an external site.
Bhugra, D. (2025). Burnout: Its meaning and how to deal with it? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 118(3), 99–101. https://doi.org/10.1177/01410768251320167Links to an external site.
Costa, D. K., & Friese, C. R. (2022). Policy strategies for addressing current threats to the U.S. nursing workforce. New England Journal of Medicine, 386(26), 2454–2456. https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmp2202662Links to an external site.
Fekih-Romdhane, F., Harb, F., Al Banna, S., Obeid, S., & Hallit, S. (2025). Prevalence and risk factors of burnout symptoms among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Human Resources for Health, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-025-01012-4Links to an external site.
Li, L. Z., Yang, P., Singer, S. J., Pfeffer, J., Mathur, M. B., & Shanafelt, T. (2024). Nurse Burnout and patient safety, satisfaction, and quality of care. JAMA Network Open, 7(11). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.43059Links to an external site.
Martin, B., Kaminski-Ozturk, N., O’Hara, C., & Smiley, R. (2023). Examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on burnout and stress among U.S. nurses. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 14(1), 4–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2155-8256(23)00063-7Links to an external site.
Rink, L. C., Oyesanya, T. O., Adair, K. C., Humphreys, J. C., Silva, S. G., & Sexton, J. B. (2023). Stressors among healthcare workers: A summative content analysis. Global Qualitative Nursing Research, 10. https://doi.org/10.1177/23333936231161127Links to an external site.
Strout, K., Schwartz-Mette, R., McNamara, J., Parsons, K., Walsh, D., Bonnet, J., O’Brien, L. M., Robinson, K., Sibley, S., Smith, A., Sapp, M., Sprague, L., Sabegh, N. S., Robinson, K., & Henderson, A. (2023). Wellness in nursing education to promote resilience and reduce burnout: Protocol for a holistic multidimensional wellness intervention and longitudinal research study design in nursing education. JMIR Research Protocols, 12. https://doi.org/10.2196/49020Links to an external site.
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Jan 12 10:05pm
Reply from Adugna Haji
Wk-8 Main discussion post
NATIONAL AND GLOBAL NURSING PROFESSION ISSUES
Nursing is a healthcare profession that has been practiced caring for human beings across the world at various levels of healthcare settings for more than a century and a half. Due to its positive impact on the healthcare sector, the nursing profession's reputation continues to rise and remains the most reliable. Regardless of all the positives, this profession has been facing challenges that limit the vital role it plays in the healthcare industry in meeting the healthcare needs of, especially those who have no adequate access to healthcare. Among those barriers that involve restricting or undermining nursing practice, public policy is the main one. According to Hajizadeh et al. (2021), because nurses' roles can be directly impacted by various healthcare legislations in healthcare systems, they should be more involved in policy development. The WHO and ICN are concerned about nurses' limited participation in policymaking. Enhancing nurses' capacity to engage in policymaking processes is a crucial component of ongoing improvements in health services.
Issue description
Among the top issues negatively impacting the nursing profession, chronic understaffing has a direct contribution to burnout, moral distress, and compromised patient safety. The American Nurses Association (ANA) has meticulously focused the need for adequate staffing to deliver standard patient care and ensure the safety of nurses. In contrast, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) has identified workforce shortages and poor working conditions as global challenges to the healthcare system. When staffing levels are inadequate, nurses are expected to handle excessive workloads, which can lead to errors, omitted care, and adverse patient outcomes. Attention to RN inadequate staffing raised the incidence of sick leave in nursing teams, according to this retrospective case-control study. Unfavorable working conditions for nurses, which have been shown to compromise patient welfare, may also put nurses at risk and potentially exacerbate staffing issues (Dall'Ora et al., 2025).
Personal impact
The issue faced by the nursing profession affects nurses at both professional and personal levels. From the perspective of clinical practice, understaffing hurts the quality of patient care by limiting nurses' ability to conduct thorough assessments, provide patient education, and deliver timely interventions. Professionally, it leads to fatigue, burnout, and decisions to exit the profession, which is underscored by both the ANA and ICN in their agendas about retention. Lasater (2024) reported that Heavy workloads and issues with management and leadership were contributing factors to nurses' intentions to quit their jobs, and exhaustion was the primary cause of nurses leaving the field. These results are consistent with an additional study that found fatigue and inadequate staffing to be the primary reasons nurses quit their jobs. Personally, it has resulted in stress that impacts physical and mental health, work-life balance, and lifelong professional satisfaction, making it difficult for nurses to remain involved and successful in practice.
Policy solutions
Staffing issues can be managed through the application of evidence-based policy measures. The ANA is a frontline organization that supports staffing guidelines based on patient acuity and designed with direct nurse contribution, rather than a fixed ratio alone. At both the local and international levels, ICN requests government investment in nursing training, the ethical selection of trainees, a safe working environment, and retention strategies. Kim et al. (2024) noted that nurses are vital staff members in medical facilities. To secure and retain enough nurses who can satisfy the patients' demands in medical facilities of all sizes, including rural locations, which face significant challenges in staffing, reward laws and guidelines at the highest levels of government are crucial. Regulations that support workforce growth need transparent workforce plans and defend nurses' rights to advocate for safe conditions, support to maintain the workforce, and enhanced standards of care.
Conclusion
In summary, unsafe staffing and nurse shortages pose a significant threat to nurses, patients, and healthcare systems. Addressing this problem needs a structured policy action informed by professional associations, including the ANA and ICN, with a focus on safe staffing, supportive work settings, and sustainable workforce investment. Successful policy changes can reduce nurse fatigue, increase patient outcomes, and sustain nursing practice for the future.
References
Dall’Ora, C., Meredith, P., Saville, C., Jones, J., & Griffiths, P. (2025). Nurse Staffing Configurations and Nurse Absence Due to Sickness. JAMA Network Open, 8(4), e255946. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.5946
Hajizadeh, A., Zamanzadeh, V., Kakemam, E., Bahreini, R., & Zarnaq, R. K. (2021). Factors influencing nurses' participation in the health policy-making process: A systematic review. BMC Nursing, 20(1), 1–9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8273557/Links to an external site.
Kim, Y., Lee, K., & Jung, M. (2024). Improvement in nurse staffing ratios according to policy changes: a prospective cohort study. BMC Nursing, 23(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01995-w
Lasater, K. B. (2024). Addressing the Nurse Retention Crisis—Leveraging Policies Supported by Evidence. JAMA Network Open, 7(7), e2421635–e2421635. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.21635
