Background Overview
As a nurse working in the psychiatric department, the problem of nurse burnout is relevant to me. It affects my health state and work productivity, making me think about how to overcome this challenge and elaborate on how to improve the situation. In addition, the topic is meaningful to me because nurse burnout negatively affects patients, which is unacceptable in the psychiatric department. People who suffer from mental issues are very vulnerable, and the inability of nurses to cope with their stress affects them in unpredictable ways.
Example
My experience shows that the nurse’s inability to cope with their emotions in the psychiatric department triggers negative patient symptoms. Once, I saw that a patient with a severe case of anxiety disorder was started from remission to an acute state with suicidal thoughts after interacting with the nurse who could not control her emotions. She communicated with the patient in an irritated voice and said something that triggered the emotional instability of the depressed patient.
As a result, the mentally ill person experienced months of pain and distress. Even though I am sure the nurse did not mean to harm the patient, the adverse effect happened. For this reason, the nurse must be emotionally stable while working with vulnerable people.
Target Audience
The target audience of the presentation is professional nurses, regardless of the department in which they work. Even though the recommendations are focused on the needs of the nurses who specialize in working with patients with mental issues, they have a universal character. As a result, they can be applied in the cross-disciplinary setting. Healthcare managers are also the target audience for the project presentation because they are responsible for organizing the work in the department. They learn the universal principles they should implement in all hospital departments, and the psychiatric department does not limit the strategies.
Literature Review Results
The literature review results show that nurse leaders should understand how to organize their work—establishing the work-life balance, measuring the adequate workload, and applying strategies to avoid burnout in their practice (Smith & Johnson, 2019). The vital detail is paying attention to all stakeholders involved in this practice. Nurses should know their impact on patients (Pollock et al., 2018). Even though their actions are focused on avoiding nurses’ burnout, they should keep the interests of patients in mind and avoid harming them (Kalaitzidis & Jewell, 2020). These details are among the priorities of the nurses working with patients with psychiatric issues due to their emotional instability and overall vulnerability.
Scope of Project
Competency
The topic encompasses the patient-centered care competency articulated by the Institute of Medicine. Reducing stress levels among nurses, which is the leading cause of burnout, low retention rate, and mistakes in care, is positive for patients. The experience shows that nurses who cannot cope with high stress levels are more likely to disregard their professional duties (Pollock et al., 2018). It endangers the health state of patients, which is critical in the psychiatric department, where patients are in a vulnerable state of mind and psyche. The nurse working in this environment should stay focused on her responsibilities and exemplify emotional stability.
Resources
The organization’s culture should support the accomplishment of the project because it enhances the level of care in the hospital. In addition, all stakeholders are interested in avoiding nurses’ burnout. Patients receive better services, nurses preserve their health and professionalism, and the hospital does not lose its personnel due to burnout.
Nurses who understand the strategies required to preserve their work-life balance and psychological stability are productive. Preserving this professional behavior is the priority for nurses working in the clinical environment. This topic can be expanded to include nurses working in other departments, making the conclusions universal.
Engagement of Stakeholders and Barriers
Stakeholders
The stakeholders involved and impacted by the project are nurses, patients, and hospital managers. Nurses receive the positive experience of coping with stress, and new knowledge on this topic allows them to cope with daily tasks better. Patients receive more high-quality care from nurses whose emotional stability is improved. Hospital managers profit from higher retention rates among nurses who do not quit their jobs due to burnout. The interdisciplinary team members that need to be engaged are nurses from other departments because it allows them to share experiences and strategies concerning reducing stress and avoiding burnout.
Barriers
In this case, the ideas from the change theory can be applied. Most nurses do not think that positive shifts are possible and continue to think that nothing can be improved. They need a guiding impulse to change their professional habits. The project discussed gives them this opportunity and specific instructions on changing their professional routine.
The project’s success will be evaluated based on the nurses’ ability to cope with stress and workload. This is expressed in the higher retention rate among nurses in the psychiatric department, their self-reports concerning the issue, and their reactions to the implementations.
References
Brody, J. E. (2016). After a suicide attempt, the risk of another try. The New York Times. Web.
Kalaitzidis, E., & Jewell, P. (2020). The concept of advocacy in nursing: A critical analysis. The Health Care Manager, 39(2), 77–84. Web.
Pollock, A., Campbell, P., Struthers, C., Synnot, A., Nunn, J., Hill, S., Goodare, H., Morris, J., Watts, C., & Morley, R. (2018). Stakeholder involvement in systematic reviews: a scoping review. Systematic Reviews, 7(1), 208. Web.
Smith, C. M., & Johnson, C. S. (2019). Preparing nurse leaders in nursing professional development: Project planning and management. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 35(3), 160–162. Web.