Nurse burnout: Causes, statistics, prevention, and more

As a nurse, you’re used to taking care of your patients – after all you’ve taken an oath to do so. With hectic shifts, social commitments and erratic schedules, it can be easy to forget the importance of taking care of yourself. Yet, self-care is crucial. It allows you to continue to be the best nurse you can be. Work can be stressful. With short-staffing, long days and night shifts those stress levels can easily rise. If this stress isn’t dealt with it can lead to nurse burnout. Keep on reading to find out everything about what nurse burnout is, its causes, signs, statistics and prevention.

Burnout is recognized by The World Health Organization (WHO) as a work-related phenomenon in its international classification of diseases. It is defined as a “syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

What is nurse burnout?

Burnout has three key features:

• Exhaustion: mental, physical and/or emotional
• Negative or cynical feelings about one’s job or increased mental distance from it
• Reduced professional efficacy

What causes nurse burnout?

Nurse burnout affects your well-being at work. Many different factors can contribute to it occurring. 

• Long shifts including night shifts
• Ill-equipped work environments
• Emotional stress
  

With the COVID-19 global pandemic, pressures on nurses have increased. With fears about inadequate PPE, the emotional stress in dealing with COVID-19 patients and the stress of redeployment all contributing to an increased risk of burnout in nursing.

Signs and symptoms of nurse burnout

Nursing burnout or burnout syndrome encompasses physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. Symptoms can include:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Short attention span
• Depersonalization
• Compassion fatigue (diminished ability to empathize with others due to mental and/or physical exhaustion)
• Decreased sense of fulfillment and personal accomplishment
• Lowered job satisfaction
• Not feeling loyal towards an employer
• Difficulty focusing and remaining alert
• Frustration
• Feeling hopeless, checked out or negative constantly

Nurse burnout statistics in the US

10 tips to prevent nurse burnout

Nurse burnout prevention is important to stop the detrimental effects of burnout affecting you or your organization. Sharing these tips with colleagues and leaders in your organization can help prevent this phenomenon in its tracks.

1. Take a breath: In stressful moments our breathing can become erratic. But deep breathing has been proven to relieve stress. It’s a simple method to help collect yourself. So it helps when you are feeling waves of anxiety overcome you. Simple breathing will also allow you time to think about how to solve the problem without it spiraling.
   
   
2. Track your stressors: You’re probably used to patient documentation and progress notes. But using those documentation skills to note down the factors which are causing you stress, anxiety and exhaustion helps you identify patterns and strategize for solutions for yourself.
   
   

3. Use effective delegation: It’s easy to work outside our role when things are hectic. But if you constantly find yourself doing tasks that a PCNA or even a doctor should be doing instead, remember to delegate.
   
   

4. Create boundaries: Work can be emotionally intense but taking work home with you in your mind can make that emotional burden relentless. Leaving work behind at the end of the day and on days off is essential to giving you some rest. You may want to plan activities with family, or work on a particular hobby free from the stresses of the hospital/office.
   
   

5. Boost your movement: As a nurse, you know that physical health and mental health are linked. The endorphins produced by exercise can help dial the stress down and it can also help you feel confident and relaxed. It’s not always easy to fit into your schedule but you may be getting lots of steps in at work already. Making some extra time even if it’s just for a walk in nature once a week may help give you another boost.

6. Use creativity to find release: Tiredness can make you lose motivation. But making time for a creative endeavor is time well spent. Creative activities can boost your mood, your energy and decrease stress. Studies have also shown an effect on your physical health with a boost to your immune system. They allow not only a distraction but the opportunity to release tension in a fun way. When you are feeling frazzled or tense, that’s the perfect time to get those creative juices flowing.

Ironically, since you are taking care of others, it’s often easy to start neglecting your own health. Taking part in corporate wellness programs can offer much-needed self-care for everyone.

Scribl’s creative workshops promote wellness in a simple, fun way. This is not therapy, facilitation or training. Instead it offers a no-pressure space for emotional release. Just bring yourself, some paper and a pencil. No fancy equipment needed.

There are on-demand classes which you can use day or night to provide yourself with a breather. There is also an organizational subscription. Head over to the Scribl subscriptions page to find what suits you or your organization the best.

7. Optimize the work environment: The clinical environment can impact how you feel. Although it is important to maintain infection control, why not take the lead on brightening it up? Whether it’s hanging supportive messages or working with your co-workers to keep the work area clutter-free and organized, a tidy space can really help with a tidy mind.
   
   

8. Prioritize sleep: Sleep is one of the most natural ways to rest and rejuvenate. With hectic schedules and night shifts it is not always easy, but practicing sleep hygiene could help you get those much-needed rest hours. This involves limiting electronic devices before bed, not consuming caffeine in the hours before bed-time and eliminating all light while you sleep. Night shifts are unavoidable for some nurses but having a set routine can really help you recover faster from a stretch of night shifts.
   
   
9. Spend time with loved ones: Although you may be around patients and co-workers all day, having quality social time outside of work can help you gain that resilience to continue tackling work head-on. Your social circle is also your support network where you can share and vent. The fear of putting loved ones at risk may have made connecting harder, but free online platforms like  Google Hangouts, Zoom, Facetime, WhatsApp and Skype can offer a safe way to connect.
   
   
10. Talk to your co-workers: Nobody knows what it’s like at work quite like your co-workers! Having a supportive atmosphere at work can make it easier to deal with your workload- so it is important to foster openness and shared reflection. Making time for check-ins after events like emergency calls gives a space to unload your feelings. Burnout is common and by speaking openly about difficulties you could help another nurse.

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