Burnout in Nursing

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Introduction
Burnout is a state of emotional overtiredness that occurs after performing stressful work for long period of time. Working as a nurse for an extended period without rest and dealing with stressful situations can easily cause burnout. According to Cherniss (1980), burnout is defined as “a process in which a previously committed professional disengages from his or her work in response to stress and strain experienced in the job” (as cited in Sherring and Night, 2009, p.1234). The people who are hard-working, idealistic and perfectionist are more likely to experience burnout than average people (Catalano, 2012, p.248). Burnout in nursing is one of the major problems that occur due to the shortage of staff members, variable shift works, dissatisfaction and stressors of workplace that can lead to physical, emotional, social and long-term career effects to the nurses. However, it can be resolved by following a problem focused copping mechanism and positive emotion focused coping mechanism. Besides this, working as a team at work place and practicing healthy life style also can help in resolving burnout.
Causes of Burnout in Nursing
The demand of nurses is increasing at a great pace all over the world. No matter how many nurses a country produces every year, there is always a shortage of workers. According to the data collected from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2002, Brush, Sochalski, and Berger stated, “In the year 2000, the supply of full-time registered nurses (RNs) was estimated to be only 1.89 million, with demand being estimated at two million. These statistics equate to an RN shortage of approximately 6%. This shortfall is predicted to increase to 12% by 2010 and to approximately 29%, or in excess of 800,000 needed RNs, by the year 2020” (as cited in Chandra and Willis, 2005, p.33). This statistic shows an inadequate nurse to patient
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