Introduction
Today, there are millions of nurses across the globe who help patients and their families to get their treatments, maintain well-being, and understand the nature of their health problems. Despite their professionalism and resistance to change, nurses cannot always predict role strain, work-related stress, and burnout. In the United States, nurse shortage is one of the main drivers of inadequate staffing that provokes stress and burnout (Shah et al., 2021). In this paper, attention will be paid to the impact of role strain and burnout on nurses and patient care, and the evaluation of stress management training programs and improved communication will be considered as two effective solutions. Personal experience will be analyzed to prove the existence of similar problems in current clinical facilities. Role strain and clinical burnout due to nurse shortage can be reduced with the help of specific training and communication among nurses to ensure high-quality patient care and predict the growth of ethical or legal concerns.
Stress Impact on Nurses
There is a moment in the nursing profession when the role of stress or strain becomes too overwhelming and affects nurses in various ways. During the last several years, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how difficult it is to be a nurse and complete all duties under the pressure of an uncontrolled virus and restrictions (Shah et al., 2021). According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2022a), today, about 52% of nurses prefer to leave their positions, 60% report burnout, and 75% experience stress and exhaustion. All these changes cannot be ignored because they have a direct impact on nurses. Where there are not enough employees within a facility, nurses are expected to overwork and cover all gaps in care. As a result, such outcomes as absenteeism, decreased performance, increased mental disorders, and labor dissatisfaction emerge (Moraes Filho & de Almeida, 2016). Nurses are not able to cope with the level of responsibility and continue experiencing extreme pressure and frustration.
Role Strain Impact on Patient Care
As soon as nursing staff undergoes personal and organizational changes due to shortage and burnout, certain shifts occur in patient care. The most common consequences include reduced motivation, costly errors, and slow reaction times (Nbugu, 2020). It is not always easy for nurses to pay much attention to all patients and their families. Patients’ needs remain unmet, while some vital signs are poorly recognized, leading to higher mortality rates (AACN, 2022a). If the problem of nurse shortage and burnout is unsolved, the quality of patient care will be worsened significantly with time. Nurses may be uninterested in supporting their patients because of a lack of time and resources. Patients, in their turn, do not get an idea of why they receive less attention and do not achieve the desired or expected improvements.
Ethical and Legal Issues
Nursing practice is based on ethical and legal issues, including patient privacy, advanced care, shared decision-making, and negligence. According to Nbugu (2020), the disposition of nursing care raises new ethical and legal problems and questions the worth of nursing in care facilities. Currently, the total supply of nurses has decreased by more than 100,000, and one-third of the nursing faculty workforce will retire by 2025 (AACN, 2022a, 2022b). Such changes may be associated with increased negligence and malpractice because the number of patients who need professional care and support is high. When men decide to become nurses to reduce the nursing shortage, they face multiple stereotypes about nursing as a female profession (Carte & Williams, 2018). These biased judgments contribute to injustice and autonomy in decision-making. Finally, newly hired nurses have additional legal concerns about patient confidentiality and the determination of defamation. These conditions cause new medical and care errors, time-consuming disputes, and court cases.
Role Strain Management
Nurses can manage or at least reduce stress and role strain in their practice. First, it is important to understand how to solve the nursing shortage problem, which is a core reason for burnout. AACN (2022a, 2022b) recommends creating highly educated nurses and increasing funding. However, instead of waiting for external help and the government’s attention, nurses can take primary responsibility for their emotional and organizational well-being. Thus, additional strategies to reduce stress are yoga, mindfulness, and meditation (Zhang et al., 2020). It is not a shame or forbidden thing to take care of personal health while providing care services for other people. However, all procedures should be properly scheduled so as not to affect the course of treatment or care processes. Finally, when people want to manage stress, they must identify its sources and signs and predict the progress (Moraes Filho & de Almeida, 2016). Communication and cooperation will be effective in discussing new perspectives of nursing care and choosing less harmful working approaches and environments.
Issues That Provoke Nurse Burnout and Solutions
Staff shortage and lack of communication are the two main issues that lead to nurse burnout. There is a belief that the nurse workforce will grow by 40% in 2031 (AACN, 2022a). Still, at the moment, it is not easy to find highly professional nurses and hire them under fair and reasonable conditions. In other words, people do not want to join the nursing field because they do not know how to cope with related problems and obligations. Zhang et al. (2020) systematically reviewed recent studies and found that stress management training is associated with burnout reduction. These programs do not take much time, and nurses learn to discover new sources of motivation. Lack of communication is another provocative aspect of the nursing environment that may result in stress and role strain (Shah et al., 2021). Regular meetings, cooperation between leaders and employees, and obligatory rapports may improve communication and decrease burnout. Although it is not easy to participate in new activities and manage time, the development of good communication skills will be achieved.
Personal Experience of Strain
In my nursing profession, there was a moment when I felt emotional exhaustion, which is one of the forms of nursing burnout. I cooperated with several families, but two patients died because of COVID-19 complications. The families were unprepared for such a loss and grieved because of the impossibility of being together due to social isolation. I felt terrible because I could not help or support them. It was hard to control my emotions, and I had no one to talk to and discuss my situation. Mindfulness meditation was my solution, and it was available online. I took one-hour sessions regularly and felt relief even after the first meditation. What I needed at that moment was time to realize my concerns and accept them.
Conclusion
In general, role strain, stress, and burnout are common problems in the nursing profession. Some individuals know how to manage them properly and predict severe complications. Still, many nurses need help to sufficiently recognize these public health concerns and understand how to solve them with respect to certain ethical and legal issues. A nursing shortage and lack of communication are possible drivers of role strain, and effective training and increased cooperation within the environment can be effective solutions for modern nurses.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2022a). Nursing shortage. AACN. Web.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2022b). Nursing faculty shortage. AACN. Web.
Carte, N. S., & Williams, C. (2017). Role strain among male RNs in the critical care setting: Perceptions of an unfriendly workplace. Intensive & Critical Care Nursing, 43, 81-86. Web.
de Moraes Filho, I. M., & de Almeida, R. J. (2016). Occupational stress at work in nursing in Brazil: An integrative review. Revista Brasileira Em Promocao Da Saude, 29(3), 447-454.
Nbugu, K. U. (2020). Role strain and burnout among nurses: A public health concern. Journal of Nursing & Healthcare,5(2). Web.
Shah, M. K., Gandrakota, N., Cimiotti, J. P., Ghose, N., Moore, M., & Ali, M. K. (2021). Prevalence of and factors associated with nurse burnout in the US. JAMA Network Open, 4(2). Web.
Zhang, X. J., Song, Y., Jiang, T., Ding, N., & Shi, T. Y. (2020). Interventions to reduce burnout of physicians and nurses: An overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Medicine, 99(26). Web.