Managing Stress in the Professional Nurse to Prevent Burnout

Running Head : Managing Stress in the Professional Nurse to Prevent Burnout

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Introduction

Currently , the health care settings are faced by increased patient acuity yet there is a worsening shortage of nurses . This high-pressured circumstance in which fewer nurses are available to take care of the ever increasing patients with complicated situations exposes the nurses to high workload and stress magnitude . Moreover , the scope of the nurses ' roles is expanding over the years and thus nurses are involved in more work than

before . If this situation is left unchecked , nurses are at risk of burnout . Burnout among the nurses is a serious devastating condition and threatens both the nurses ' and patients health . There is need to prevent burnout among the nurses as their presence in care matters is of significance . Burnout can be prevented through identification of stressors and applying stress management strategies . This paper presents information on stress management and how it should be applied to prevent burnout in the professional nurse Credibility of the information is ensured through reviews of professional nursing journals concerning the subject

Literature Review

Definition of Burnout

Burnout has been described as a psychological syndrome characterized by excessive exhaustion , inefficacy , and cynicism which occur in response to chronic occupational stressors (Laschinger Finegan , 2008 Billeter-Koponen and Freden (2005 ) describes burnout as pathological or unusual tiredness . However , as much as burnout in the nurse professional has always been associated with job-related stress factors there are speculations that personal stressors also contribute to...