Identification of Burnout in Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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2022-05-01
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Abstract
Registered Nurses at Henry Ford Jackson suffer symptoms of burnout due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, which has created stress, fatigue, and impacted overall health. This burnout is demonstrated in the increasing turnover rate for nursing. The nurse turnover rate at Henry Ford Jackson rose 3.4% from 2019 to 2020 and continued to rise throughout 2021, reaching 26.4%. In exit interviews, nurses reported feelings of burnout, fatigue, loss of job satisfaction, anxiety, and depression as their reasons for leaving. These nurses identified a lack of personal wellness since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and have requested peer and emotional support programs to assist them with coping and post-traumatic growth. As a result, developing a true wellness program that meets the psychological needs of the nursing staff, such as psychological first aid and journal therapy, is essential to improve morale, improve overall health, and reduce nursing turnover.
Identification tools, such as the Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT), can identify and measure burnout for nurses. Identifying and measuring burnout aids in initiating wellness strategies which decrease symptoms of burnout, ultimately decreasing nurse turnover. The BAT has shown the ability to measure burnout and has been validated in the Netherlands for it’s use in assessing general practitioners, psychologists, and occupational physicians (Schaufeli et al., 2020). However, the BAT has limited use in the United States, specifically in nursing.
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burnout, nurses, Spring Arbor University, Joie Linn Nelson, Covid-19, pandemic