WHAT IS BURNOUT SYNDROME IN NURSING? - JOB - 2024

The burnout syndrome in nursing is a state of mental and physical fatigue, lack of motivation and disappointment that occurs in nursing professionals. It is also characterized by low personal fulfillment at work and depersonalization.

This syndrome refers to a certain physical or mental as well as emotional state. It is a type of stress, which can be understood as an imbalance between the demands and the capacities to face these demands.

When the activity you do at work does not fill you, that is, it does not satisfy your goals, you can feel exhausted not only physically but also mentally. This can lead to a decrease in your motivation and symptoms such as apathy, among others.

characteristics

The most common characteristics of this syndrome are:

Lack of personal fulfillment at work

It can be understood as the action taken by professionals to evaluate themselves negatively, thus affecting the performance of work and their relationships in the same way.

Emotional exhaustion

They are those people who can no longer give more of themselves emotionally. They are professionals who feel tired and emotionally exhausted from being in constant contact with other people.

Depersonalization

It is understood as the development of negative attitudes and feelings towards the people receiving the work.

Symptoms

Among the symptoms of burnout syndrome in nursing are:

• Somatic symptoms. Such as headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure etc.
• Behaviors and attitudes in the work group. Distrust towards the work group, little collaboration, desire to leave work and difficulty working as a team, among others.
• Problems in personal behavior. Sexual dysfunctions, anger and aggressiveness, tobacco abuse…
• Emotional disturbances. Feeling of lack of energy, feeling of emptiness, guilt, low self-esteem, irritability…

Causes of burnout in nursing

This syndrome appears as a response to work stress on a continuous basis in professions that are characterized by providing services to other people.

Nursing professionals are a clear example of work with a predisposition to suffer from burnout syndrome. The objective of these people is to take care of the interests or satisfy the needs of patients, and they are characterized by direct contact.

If these people remain for a long time between the intermediate point of stress and its consequences, they can present negative alterations in their state of health, either in the form of illness or psychosomatic alterations such as: difficulty sleeping, dizziness and vertigo.

Next, we are going to expose the main causes of this syndrome:

Continuous and sustained contact with suffering, pain and death

Health professionals such as nurses, care for all types of people regardless of the disease they have. In many cases, these people do not survive being, in some cases, a loss that is dramatic and unfair.

Fall in the social value of the profession in our country

Some time ago, nurses were highly valued by society. However, this social prestige has fallen, with the work of other colleagues such as doctors being more valued.

Work overload

Due to the number of patients, number of pathologies without cure, lack of resources and hourly pressure.

Currently, in the society we live in, a nurse can be more overloaded than a while ago. This difficult situation causes your work to be drastically affected and you have to perform more functions with less resources and time.

They do not receive positive reinforcement for what they do

Although they are also capable of saving lives for the work they do, the people they serve often do not thank them for a job well done. On the contrary, they complain about their professional performance.

Threats of being sued for bad work

Sometimes it is impossible to save a person's life due to the advanced disease they present. This can have negative consequences for health professionals such as nurses, who have to deal with their family members, who put their professionalism on trial.

Solve ethical dilemmas resulting from new technologies

With the arrival of new technologies, safeguarding patient privacy or even identification is almost impossible. This is another point that these professionals have to deal with.

Nature of the task

Some tasks, where possible, are more pleasant to do than others because of the feeling they create in the patient. So it will not be the same to draw blood as having to operate on a tumor.

Organizational and institutional variable

The type of organization and institution in which you work is another addition that can negatively affect the emotions of the nurse. For example, it is not the same to work in a hospital than in a private clinic or geriatric.

Interpersonal variable

We refer to family, colleagues, friends, etc. Sometimes, relationships with people who are close to your environment can facilitate your day to day and even improve it drastically. However, a nurse's schedule can hinder these good relationships and become a sign of stress and discomfort.

Individual variable

Referring to characteristics such as age, sex, personality traits etc. Another factor to take into account is the sex of the professional. Women tend to be more sensitive, so a certain case can affect us more.

On the other hand, we cannot forget the age factor, since certain situations can affect us more the younger we are. Finally, the personality we have and even our philosophy of life can make us see this work as something negative or positive.

Low salary

Another reason that can make it appear is the poor remuneration presented by this job, which does not help, compensate or encourage nurses.

Loss of control over the professional

Due to the world in which we live in continuous evolution and rapidity of discoveries. The healthcare environment is constantly improving and changing. This forces nurses to have to go periodically to receive training on new diseases and treatments, which can sometimes trigger feelings of frustration.

Lack of support by institutions

Institutions and organizations specializing in these professionals sometimes make them feel insufficiently supported in their continuous suffering and struggle. So it can also generate negative feelings that favor this syndrome.

Prevention

The strategies that can be used to prevent and treat this syndrome can be divided into three categories: individual, group and organizational strategies.

Individual strategies

These professionals should be trained in problem solving, as well as in assertiveness training and effective handling of the type. In this way, they will have the necessary tools to face their work day without a critical feeling of stress and burden.

Group strategies

Social support from colleagues at work is essential to create a good environment. Thanks to this, everyone can obtain information and acquire skills that can help them improve their professional performance.

On the other hand, it can also be used for colleagues to give feedback to each other and, if necessary, to help each other.

Strategies at the institutional level

From the direction of the institutions, everything possible should be done to promote a good work environment and adequate feelings of belonging.

Therefore, they should organize prevention programs aimed at this cause. Some examples of programs can be: socialization programs, organizational development, implementation of evaluation systems, etc.

Conclusions

As we can see during our daily life, stress and anxiety can have a surprising influence and can generate very negative consequences affecting our personal and professional life.

In the case of healthcare professionals such as nurses, the causes may be the pressure to which they are subjected in their work as well as frequent contact with death.

We have to keep in mind that they are also people and have their good and bad days. We have to be aware that, as in any other profession, the worker can make a mistake and should not be martyred for that.

By dedicating time to training and information on this syndrome and providing the appropriate tools to healthcare professionals, we will be saving time and money. On the other hand, we will also be making our health field more competent and effective.

References

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