Health work environments and longer working hours contribute largely to nursing burnout. Nurses get tired and, most of the time, are stressed out, a consequence that puts their productivity in jeopardy (Bokhour et al., 2018). Arguably, patients’ health is largely at stake, with nurses being unfit for work for any reason. Thus, it is pertinent that nurses are provided with a safe working environment and the necessary support to have ample time for rest if positive patient outcomes are outcome to be achieved. Even so, sometimes resources and arsenals in the hands of the stakeholders do not seem to be enough for the ideal nursing environment requirements. In such scenarios, nurses ought to be more than smart to ensure that their work situation does not compromise their ability to deliver through strained conditions.
Advice for A Brand New Graduate
If I found a brand new graduate working with my team and the nursing environment is strained, they get frequently burned out, and with stress, I would offer a few bits of advice. Exercises and dieting are quality stress reliever that one can use. Nurses who get frequent burnouts should consider doing a few exercises and adhere to a nutritious dieting system to help them release work pressure. Whenever they take time off work, they should manage the time consciously, aware that they need to recharge. Activities such as Yoga, meditation, and massage sessions are ideal for recharging. Taking leave days and time offs are necessary for random periods to refresh.
I would advise them to establish boundaries so that they can concentrate on one thing before the other for apt delivery. For instance, personal businesses and professional work should have a clear divisive line. Checking personal emails at work is ignoble and robs quality professional time. Another important strategy of stress relief for nurses in cruel work environments is accepting what can and cannot be controlled. Source stressors in the nursing environment sometimes come from the laxity in the communication systems. Should a nurse establish clear communication channeling from their side, a significant load of stressors is tamed to their advantage (Duquesne University School of Nursing, 2021). These, among many others, are the pieces of advice that would suffice for new staff in my team.
Assessing Patient Care Readiness
To determine whether a facility or care setting is prepared for patient-centered care, several data can be assessed. Firstly, the number of patients who get services from the facility each day against the number of nursing staff provides articulate data resources. There should be a reasonable ratio of nurses to patients in a facility on a particular day for each patient is to be accorded patient-centered care. According to Bokhour et al. (2018), the alignment of staff roles to their responsibilities is another important resource provided by the job description data. When all staff members provide their respective service duly, patients would have close attention from their service providers. Other pertinent data include leadership data, frequency of adherence and use of technological innovations, and other data pertinent to the environment of care within the facility are all data that can be assessed to provide a sneak peek of the manner of care administered to patients.
Actions that support Patients, Family and Employee Environments
According to Ulrich et al. (2019), the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses provides six elements that foster a conducive work environment for the nurses. These elements include collaboration, appropriate staffing, authentic leadership, skilled communication, recognition and appreciation, and effective decision-making (Gresh, 2020). They create a healthy work environment for nurses to work effectively. When a nurse is comfortable, the patients receive acute care for positive outcomes. The patients are satisfied with the care, and so are their respective families.
References
Bokhour, B. G., Fix, G. M., Mueller, N. M., Barker, A. M., Lavela, S. L., Hill, J. N., Solomon, J.L & Lukas, C. V. (2018). How can healthcare organizations implement patient-centered care? Examining a large-scale cultural transformation.BMC Health Services Research, 18(1), 1-11.
Duquesne University School of Nursing. (2021). Strategies for managing nurse stress in the workplace: Duquesne University.
Gresh, C. (2020). Creating a positive nursing work environment. Nursing Center.
Ulrich, B., Barden, C., Cassidy, L., & Varn-Davis, N. (2019). Critical care nurse work environments 2018: Findings and implications. Critical Care Nurse, 39(2), 67-84.