Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay

Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay

Comparing and Contrasting the historical role with the current role of nurses focusing on occupational fatigue

Introduction

Nursing is an evolving profession that is marked with changes in the technology, requiring nurses to promptly adjust to maintain the standard of care offered to patients. As compared to traditional nursing, the current nursing practice has characteristic stressors. These stressors manifest due to the complex roles nurses carry out (Schmidt & McArthur, 2018). Nurses are faced with challenges in practicing due to the growing demands that equally require their attention. The stressors, therefore, become more prominent when they exceed the internal resources that nurses can use to combat them (Crary, 2013). Consequently, the stressors lead to occupational fatigue which further causes staff turnover, decreased productivity, and emotional exhaustion of nurses at work. The paper provides a detailed comparison of the historical role of nurses and the current role focusing on occupational fatigue.Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW

Occupational Fatigue

Occupational fatigue is defined as a combination of emotional, physical, and spiritual depletion affiliated to caring for patients in significant emotional pain, withdrawal, and physical distress (Adib-Hajbaghery, Khamechian & Alavi, 2012). In other words, it is described as the feeling of psychological exhaustion and reduced efficiency due to overwork or prolonged exposure to stress (Crary, 2013).Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay. It becomes pronounced in the nursing profession if the stressors overwhelm the resources allocated to stabilize it. Notably, compassion fatigue is a problem in nursing practice because it reduces the worker’s agility, efficiency, productivity, and competence. It also reduces the value of self-care behaviors that should be adopted by the nurses to counter the work pressure. Additionally, occupational fatigue reduces an effective transition pattern as most of the newly registered or licensed nurses quit their job place shortly after being employed..

There is a different dogma in the historical roles of nursing as shown by retrospective research. Notably, the historical nurse role was balanced hence manifested reduced occupational fatigue (Adib-Hajbaghery, Khamechian & Alavi, 2012). Conversely, the current trend has changed as nurses are tasked with more responsibilities starting from caring for the patients complex needs, meeting the interdisciplinary team, and caring for the beliefs and desires of the patient’s family members (Schmidt & McArthur, 2018). In the long run, nurses are subjected to pressure at work leading to overall low productivity hence reduces the nature of the patient health outcomes.

How Professional Nursing Values Contribute to Occupational Fatigue

The professional nursing values are meant to guide the nurses with standards for offering comprehensive and evidence-based care to the patients. However, an in-depth analysis of some of the professional nursing values is linked to occupational fatigue among nurses (Adib-Hajbaghery, Khamechian & Alavi, 2012). For instance, altruism is a core nursing professional value that guides the nurses to have the spirit, desire, and determination to help people without getting a significant reward. In this context, the nurses are involved in taking care of the patient’s complex needs (Schmidt & McArthur, 2018). Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay. They go the extramile to extend the shift hours to optimize patient outcomes. This creates a reasonable degree of occupational fatigue. The value of empathy and caring guides nurses to offer compassionate care of patients. The nurses take their time to create an effective therapeutic environment with the patients. They conduct a thorough assessment of the patient to get all the reasonable factors to aid in patient management (Crary, 2013). They also comfort the patient’s family members who also have other inquiries. In the process of holding to this value, the nurses develop occupational fatigue leading to emotional breakdown. The ethical and legal considerations although deemed well also leads to a considerable amount of occupational fatigue among nurses. Notably, nurses make decisions which are guided by the ethical and legal boundaries. In circumstances of emergency care, nurses are tasked to act promptly while considering all the ethical and legal aspects (Blais, 2015). In the process, they feel emotionally withdrawn because of the increasing stressors; hence they develop occupational fatigue.

Historical roles of Nurses that contribute to occupational fatigue

Nurses have been tasked with some historical roles even before the era of Florence Nightingale. Historically, they were tasked with the management of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). During this time, the nurses multitasked I providing the first line treatment of the conditions. They acted as almoner, counselors, technicians, and doctor’s assistant in various clinics. The set of myriad activities they conducted was a potential contributor to compassion fatigue realized in the era. However, these expectations do not continue today because of advanced nursing education, allowing one to specialize in the respective field. Although it can be argued that compassion fatigue manifested during both the historical times, it is relatively higher in the current practice due to specialization in the practice exercise (Crary, 2013). Additionally, the use of technology in the current nursing practice drives nurses to enhance education as well as offer appropriate teaching services to the patients’ family members before a procedure is carried out. These cumulatively increase occupational fatigue. Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay.

How one develop Internal Coping Resources to Combat Occupational Fatigue

Occupational fatigue is demoralizing especially if it becomes fully engorged into the system. An effective internal resource to combat it is developing self-compassion. The self-compassion helps in creating leverage in the way an individual feels and the magnitude of pressure induced by the stressors (Crary, P. (2013). Notably, having a self-soothing and positive tools is an effective component of self-compassion which helps one to understand him or herself internally amidst pressure. Secondly, recognizing that one’s discomfort is an unavoidable part of the human trajectory of experiences also helps in building greater compassion. Third, a nurse should recognize the fact that he or he is human (Crary, P. (2013). Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay. This promotes a sense of connection with others despite piling occupational fatigue. The feeling of self-compassion helps one to be mindful and turns one’s wisdom and awareness inward; hence they can recognize an aspect of temporality. The nurse is thus able to recognize that occupational fatigue is just temporal and should adjust appropriately to counter it.

Comparison of Resources available historical and currently

The nursing profession has a long trajectory emanating from the traditional practices that involved performing diverse roles under minimal supervision. Considerably, the nurses conducted traditional practices in less engaging environments; hence they could take time before developing a strong engagement with patients (Schmidt & McArthur, 2018). Conversely, the current system is tasking nurses with different roles to manage patients effectively. Empathy and compassionate care are dominating the current health care system as the nurses enter the patient’s life at critical juncture forcing them to continue in their journey with the patients despite the growing debilitation process. Ultimately, they develop sorrow and grief when the patient’s lost their lives. There is still no effective support offered in dealing with the current compassion fatigue (Blais, 2015). This is an implication for further research on a multi-faceted bundle that should be applied to the nurses to counter the compassion fatigue.

In conclusion, nurses are vulnerable to compassion fatigue. The increasing rate of compassion fatigue in the workplace should, therefore, be regulated accordingly. Nurses should be equipped with more internal resources to maintain their productivity. Additionally, the nurse’s professional values should be peer reviewed to minimize them from exposing the nurses to more compassion fatigue. Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay.

References

Crary, P. (2013). Beliefs, behaviors, and health of undergraduate nursing students. Holistic nursing practice, 27(2), 74-88.

Schmidt, B. J., & McArthur, E. C. (2018, January). Professional nursing values: A concept analysis. In Nursing forum (Vol. 53, No. 1, pp. 69-75).

Adib-Hajbaghery, M., Khamechian, M., & Alavi, N. M. (2012). Nurses’ perception of occupational stress and its influencing factors: A qualitative study. Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research, 17(5), 352.

Blais, K. (2015). Professional nursing practice: Concepts and perspectives. Pearson.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER NOW

Nurse Fatigue In the recent past, nursing has come to the forefront as a popular career amongst students across the globe. The demand for nurses has kept increasing gradually over the years. In fact, the number of registered nurses does not meet the demand of the private and public health sector. This phenomenon has resulted in a situation where the available registered nurses have to work extra hours in order to meet the patients’ needs. With this in mind, the issue of nurse fatigue has come up as a common problem in nursing. Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay. According to the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), nurse fatigue is “a feeling of tiredness” that penetrates a persons physical, mental and emotional realms limiting their ability to function normally. Fatigue does not just involve sleepiness as has been assumed before. It involves utter exhaustion that is not easily mitigated through rest. When nurses ignore the signs of fatigue, they risk the development of chronic fatigue and other health problems that may not be easily treated. Additionally, fatigue may cause nurses to lose more time at work as they may have to be away from work for several days to treat it. The issue of nurse fatigue has permeated the nursing profession to the extent of causing errors in the work performed by nurses. Fatigue causes a decrease in a nurse’s ability to make accurate decisions for themselves and their patients. It is therefore important to find ways to curb nurse fatigue such that it is no longer a problem. Nurse fatigue is a danger to the patients, organizations and to the nurses themselves and must be mitigated adequately. Signs of Fatigue It is important to know what the signs of fatigue are so that nurses can easily identify the problem as early as possible.Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay. In most… … middle of paper … …ork shifts depending on their ability. In addition, it is important for nurses to understand that it is their ethical responsibility to only practice when they are fit to do so. Moreover, nurses should take responsibility for self care and take adequate time to rest and recover after shifts. In general, nurses should be aware of their mental and physical capabilities and only work when they are well enough to do so. Conclusion Nurse fatigue is a serious topic not only in the nursing profession circles but in the health sector as a whole. The effects of nurse fatigue are serious in a way that the issue can no longer be ignored. As discussed in this paper, it is important for nurses to be aware of the signs of fatigue and take adequate action when it happens. It is also possible for nurses to develop a work ethic that ensures nurses do not reach the point of fatigue . Occupational Fatigue in Nursing Essay.