Nurse Burnout Case Study

In nursing, burnout is a real problem. Nurses expressed symptoms of stress and burnout as reasons for their intention to exit the profession (Maville, Huerta, 2013, p. 446). It leads to job dissatisfaction and high turnover rates, which could be the case in the dialysis center I work for. We practice in the outpatient clinic and inpatient hospital setting. We perform hemodialysis, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), plasmapheresis, and peritoneal dialysis. We can work very long hours at the hospital. We typically work one 24-hour on-call shift every week. The longest shift I have worked is 18-hours straight through and have worked a 13-hour shift only to drive home and get called right back in for another 5-6 hours. Some of my coworkers have worked even longer hours and most of our complaints are related to the risks to the patient, the risks to the staff, and the unpredictability of when we will get to go home. This is very hard on the staff and we have had multiple people leave shortly after getting hired. This puts an extra burden on the senior nurses because they have to take on more on-call shifts until new
It is now recognized throughout the globe that evidence-based practice (EBP) is key to delivering the highest quality of healthcare and ensuring the best patient outcomes at the lowest costs (Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt, 2015, p. 3). Hospitals are pushing for more bachelor degree prepared nurses because they feel as though they are better able to use or find evidence based practices and provide better outcomes to patients. Protocols and procedures are changed because of new tools or evidence that have been found to benefit patient outcomes. Third-party payers will provide reimbursement only for healthcare practices whose effectiveness is supported by scientific evidence (i.e., pay for performance) (Melnyk & Fineout-Oberholt, 2015, p.