Nurse Burnout and Fatigue
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Nurse burnout in Plantation General Hospital
Nurse burnout is one of the critical national health care issue facing many hospitals which in turn enhance poor patient care. Perhaps nurse burnout is perceived to be physical, emotional as well as emotional illness and distress, which is enhanced by an increase of workload and lack of job fulfillment and support among the health care providers (Nantsupawat et al., 2017). This paper evaluates the effect of the nurse burnout in Plantation General Hospital and how it impacts the effort of the nurses to provide patient care. Bruise (2019) in her research, “Alarming Statistics on Nurse Burnout” showed that United Stated registered more than 5000 nurses suffering from nurse burnout which is caused by poor working conditions, increased workload and increase of number of patients among others. This implies that nurse burnout has continued to be one of the main challenge among the hospitals.
Plantation General Hospital Burnout Rates
It is prudent to note that nursing burnout has been noted as one of the primary causes of the increase in turnover rates in Plantation General Hospital (Plantation General Hospital, 2019). The performance data of the hospital for the last five years shows burnout rates have been increasing exponentially, which in turn has reduced the morale of nurses to provide patient care services. According to the hospital data, 47 nurses has been affected by the nurse burnout from 2017-2019. This shows a 21% of the total nurses in the hospital. The performance data shows that burnout among the nurses is directly related to poor social support, lack of ability of nurses to have control over their assignments and schedules, poor working environment, and poor balance of job and work life. For instance, the research shows that patient care performance reduced by 8% in 2018 due to an increased rate of burnout among the nurses (Plantation General Hospital, 2019). This has posed a great challenge for the operation of the hospital due to the reduced number of patients registered in the Plantation General Hospital.
Evaluation of the Articles Selected
Havens, Gittell and Vasey (2018) in their study, “Impact of relational coordination on nurse job satisfaction, work engagement and burnout” evaluated factors that enhance the increase of stress and burnout among the nurses. The findings of the study showed that provision of effective support networks, good interpersonal relationship, and teamwork among the nurses are some of the appropriate methods which help to raise morale and lower stress among the nurses. The study also showed that the provision of effective education and resources helps to reduce burnout effect and hence to increase nurse’s productivity. In addition, the study asserted many organizations has adopted the 12-hour shift policy as the change strategy which helps to rotate nurses and prevent occurrence of fatigue and burnout.
Gómez-Urquiza et al (2017) in their study, “Prevalence of burnout syndrome in emergency nurses” aimed to investigate the prevalence of burnout syndrome among nurses. The article recognized burnout syndrome as one of the main occupational health challenges facing many health professionals in their effort to provide effective health care services. The article also discussed in depth on burnout syndrome relates to the emergence of nurses and provided an appropriate intervention to reduce the cases of nurse burnout. The change strategy implemented by the organizations according to the study includes providing a contusive working conditions, as well as the establishment of the professional peer groups where medical practitioners are able to express their feelings and emotions, have a great influence on reducing burnouts among the nurses.
The John Hopkins Hospital has implemented a strategy of 3-shift policy where nurses are shifted three times a day. This implies that nurses are required to operate for an 8-hour shift. Due to this, there has been reduction of nurse burnout and fatigue by 5% from 13%-8% (Newhouse & White, 2017). This implies that implementing a shifting policy helps to reduce the nurse burnout while increasing their productivity.
Nursing Intervention
One of the significant strategy to reducing nursing burnout is implementing a 12-hour shit policy as speculated by Havens, Gittell and Vasey (2018). The policy helps to increase productivity among the nurses as well as reducing errors and hence improving the performance of the hospitals while also meeting the patient’s expectations. Also, shifting nurses help them to engage in other activities outside the scope of their work and relax their mind (Lorenz, 2016). However, the 12-hour shift policy experience a great challenge of vigilance sustenance. This is because 12 hours are perceived to be too long for the managers to monitor and maintain constant vigilance on the nurses and hence may reduce productivity among the managers and thus poor performance of hospital.
Providing a contusive environment and establishment of the professional peer groups are the main strategies used to address the issue of nurse burnout as speculated by Gómez-Urquiza et al (2017). Contusive working environment includes providing adequate nursing materials, increasing their salary to motivate them as well as providing training among the nurses. This aims to reduce fatigue, depression and stress and hence improving their productivity (Lee et al., 2016). However, this strategy may lead to the relaxation of nurses and some may fail to provide quality medical services and hence ruining the reputation of the hospital.

Conclusion
Plantation General Hospital management has an obligation to educate and equip nurses with relevant and appropriate tools that are helpful in preventing fatigue and burnout. Consequently, some of the nursing interventions include adoption of 12-hour shift policy which helps nurses to balance work life and home life by involving self-care initiatives and also employing stress management techniques to reduce stress among the nurses within their workplace. This implies that if nurses are able to take care of themselves, then they have a great chance of taking care of patients. Therefore, the prevention of nurse burnout helps to enhance the quality provision of medical services, which in turn improves the reputation and performance of Plantation General Hospital (Plantation General Hospital, 2019).


References
Gómez-Urquiza, J. L., De la Fuente-Solana, E. I., Albendín-García, L., Vargas-Pecino, C., Ortega-Campos, E. M., & Cañadas-De la Fuente, G. A. (2017). Prevalence of burnout syndrome in emergency nurses: A meta-analysis. Critical care nurse, 37(5), e1-e9.
Havens, D. S., Gittell, J. H., & Vasey, J. (2018). Impact of relational coordination on nurse job satisfaction, work engagement and burnout: Achieving the quadruple aim. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 48(3), 132-140.
Lee, H. F., Kuo, C. C., Chien, T. W., & Wang, Y. R. (2016). A meta-analysis of the effects of coping strategies on reducing nurse burnout. Applied nursing research, 31, 100-110.
Lorenz, S. G. (2016). 12-hour shifts: an ethical dilemma for the nurse executive. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 38(6), 297-301.
Nantsupawat, A., Kunaviktikul, W., Nantsupawat, R., Wichaikhum, O. A., Thienthong, H., & Poghosyan, L. (2017). Effects of nurse work environment on job dissatisfaction, burnout, and intention to leave. International nursing review, 64(1), 91-98.
Newhouse, R. P., & White, K. M. (2017). Johns Hopkins nursing evidence-based practice model and guidelines. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.
Plantation General Hospital. (2019). Plantation General Hospital – HCA, East Florida.

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