Joint Commission Makes Nurse Burnout a Priority in 2020

If you're a leader or manager in the healthcare space, one of your biggest concerns is probably burnout among your nurses and physicians. Burnout is cited as a leading concern of nurses today, and with a large portion of the workforce set to retire in the near future, this problem could be getting much worse, very quickly.That's why it's heartening to hear of a report from the Joint Commission, which is aimed at combating and preventing nurse burnout. According to the report, healthcare leaders and facilities need to be concerned about nurse burnout and make alleviating it a major initiative, due to the impact it has on both staff and patients. The report states that [d]eveloping strategies for nurse resilience is a patient safety strategy, as burnout negatively affects the physical and emotional health of staff and contributes to rising costs.�

What's the Data Behind Nurse Burnout?

So what is nurse burnout, and how did it become a problem? As nurse leaders know, the U.S. is currently facing a nursing shortage. With less nurses to provide care, and more and more patients requiring care, nurses are increasingly asked to do more on a daily basis. According to the Joint Commission report, [t]he need to juggle competing priorities in often high-stress situations can result in feeling overwhelmed or burnout.� As nursing workload increases, feelings of burnout will increase too.The Joint Commission has quantified these feelings in their report. 15.6% of nurses are experiencing feelings of burnout, with ER nurses at a higher risk for these feelings. If all of this has you concerned for the health of your workforce and how it could affect patient outcomes, you're certainly not alone. According to the report, [a]pproximately 39% of respondents said their organization was slightly effective at dealing with burnout, and 56% said their facility was either slightly ineffective or highly ineffective at helping staff address burnout.� Only 5% of facilities claimed they were highly effective at addressing nurse burnout. If you're in the other 95%, learning how to manage feelings of burnout among your nurses will help determine you and your facility's success in the coming decade.�

How Can You Spot Nurse Burnout?

If you're trying to identify burnout among your nurses, the Joint Commission has compiled a list of the symptoms present in burnt out nurses. Lack of enthusiasm about work, constant fatigue, or depersonalization (numbing oneself from emotions) can all be signs that nurses are feeling burnt out. Be sure to keep tabs on the temperament and attitude of your nurses, and check in regularly to monitor how employees are holding up.If you've noticed that some of your nurses are experiencing symptoms of burnout, it's important to take action. The more of your nurses feel acute burnout, the worse patient outcomes become at healthcare facilities. It can also lead to high turnover, making the nurse shortage even worse for facilities that are already affected.

How to Address Nurse Burnout

So how can facilities alleviate nurse burnout, as well as increasing nurse resilience to burnout? The Joint Commission identifies a few ways to make nurses feel more engaged and resilient at work, like:

• Creating a safe and positive work environment. Security concerns have been identified as a risk factor for development of staff burnout. Engage with your staff around their perceived environmental threats and develop action plans to address concerns.
• Enabling employees to participate in decisions related to their work. Shared decision making strengthens the voice of the clinical nurse as they collaborate with leaders around optimal staffing plans
• Expressing confidence in employees' ability to perform at a high level
• Facilitating goal attainment
• Providing autonomy

However, these practices can only go so far. The underlying cause of burnout is nurses being asked to do more than they're capable of, for a long period of time. To address this, the only solution is to ensure the nursing staff at your facility is adequate enough so that nurses are not repeatedly and consistently being asked to do more than they are able to at work.While it can be tough to hire more nurses during a time when the U.S. is facing a nurse shortage, there is a solution. PassportUSA addresses workforce solutions by bringing experienced international, BSN-ready nurses to facilities across America at a lower cost than travel nurses, and on longer contracts. Protect the future of your healthcare facility and your existing workforce with PassportUSA. Click below to learn more: