Nurses are toiling feverishly on the frontlines, healing the world against the rising odds. Every day, they throw themselves into the gap as they care for sick individuals, no matter the ailment. But who’s there to take care of them? In a Nurse Burnout Study conducted by Nursing CE Central in 2021, a shocking 95% of nurses surveyed indicated that they were burnt out due to nursing work within the last three years. Not only is nurse burnout detrimental to the physical and emotional well-being of nurses, but it also leads to lackluster care delivery and negatively impacts healthcare facilities’ financial bottom line.
Without a doubt, nurse burnout is a serious problem that needs to be addressed right now. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we need our nurses to be at their best. So, in this article, we’ll present to you 6 evidence-based burnout remedies your facility can implement to reduce nurse burnout and promote favorable patient outcomes.
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Set Reasonable Patient Limits
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One of the main causes of nurse burnout is high nurse-to-patient ratios. The more people a nurse is responsible for at a given time, the higher the probability of that nurse feeling overwhelmed or making a life-threatening mistake during the provision of care. Though there’s no federally mandated nurse-to-patient ratio, setting a reasonable patient care limit for your nurses can make a world of difference in the occurrence of nurse stress and nurse burnout.
According to National Nurses United, it is recommended that ICU and NICU nurses be expected to look after no more than 2 patients at a given time. For skilled nursing facilities, a nurse-to-patient ratio of 1:5 is proposed. The proposed patient limits for other facility types vary from 1:1 to 1:6. When setting patient limits for nurses, management at facilities should use their own discretion and consider facility-specific issues and available resources. But the goal is to reduce the current ratios to allow nurses some room to breathe.
Note: If your facility is understaffed, it may be time to hire new nurses. A nurse staffing agency, like weCare can be a huge help in this regard, quickly providing you with quality nurses on a temporary, permanent, part-time, or full-time basis. That way, you can reduce your current nurses’ workloads quickly and without sacrificing patient care.
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Allow for Increased Scheduling Freedom
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Another pain point that nurses regularly cite is scheduling rigidity. Working 12-hour shifts is hard enough, but being unable to choose working days makes things even more challenging. Moreover, working 2 days on and 2 days off is much less demanding than working several 12-hour shifts consecutively. Nurse self-scheduling is an attractive way to reduce nurse burnout, but if that is not an option for your facility, consider more advanced nurse scheduling software with capabilities such as:
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- Centralized communication
- Fair scheduling recommendations
- Schedule change alerts
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Provide On-site Nurse Burnout Support
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Nurse burnout will never be 100% avoidable, no matter what changes you employ. And on top of that, lack of support is cited as one of the top drivers of burnout. So, every facility that employs nurses should make effective burnout support available. What a successful burnout support operation looks like will vary widely from facility to facility, but there are a few common elements that could provide nurses some serious relief:
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- Support groups where nurses can air out their frustrations and solicit advice on how to move forward.
- Helpful pamphlets and signs around the facility that cover nurse burnout symptoms and how to balance work life and home life.
- An area where nurses can relax and get a break from the hustle and bustle of work.
- Periodic workshops to inform the nursing staff of what burnout is, share common nurse burnout symptoms, teach burnout remedies, and push nurse burnout prevention strategies.
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Inform Management of What Nurse Burnout Looks Like
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While it’s imperative for nurses to obtain the resources they need to prevent and treat burnout, it’s also important that management is aware of what burnout looks like. There will be times when a nurse is so severely burnt-out that they aren’t consciously aware of it. If management and staff are there to tap that nurse on the shoulder, make sure they are alright, and offer support, there’s hope for a turnaround.
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Implement IT Solutions as Appropriate
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There are countless nursing technologies available to healthcare facilities and their nurses in this technological age. They range from top-of-the-line EMR systems and mobile point-of-care technology to automatic IV pumps and smart beds.
Taking on certain technologies can bring about an increase in efficiency and a reduction in nurse burnout. This is why all facilities should consider adopting new technology. If nurses are able to shave off time from their normal care processes and work more efficiently, they can perform their jobs under less stress.
Therefore, it’s wise to take inventory of the technology your facility currently employs and determine if adopting additional technology is a feasible option.
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Develop Nurse Appreciation Initiatives
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Nurses often feel like they are unseen and unappreciated, and feelings like these can contribute to burnout in nurses. Therefore, when attempting to curtail nurse burnout, appreciation can go a long way. It can be as simple as a yearly Nurse Appreciation Day, where refreshments are served, and management officials communicate how much they appreciate their nurses. Facilities can also select and celebrate a “Nurse of the Month” to make nurses feel seen and give them something to strive for other than another day of grueling work. And, if feasible, management can offer rewards for nurses who perform above and beyond the call of duty.
To implement these initiatives, facilities may need to enact a nurse appreciation team.
Make Meaningful Changes
Reducing stress and burnout in nurses is a sizable feat that many facilities have endeavored to do without success. It will take a multi-pronged approach to help reduce nurse burnout occurrences at your facility. So, we encourage you to take the tips and recommendations mentioned in this article, tailor them to your organization, and implement them as soon as is practical. Nurses, patients, and facilities themselves are suffering, and quick, substantial changes are needed to make a real difference.
