Physician and Nurse burnout is a reality that all providers face, regardless of the size of their practice. Keep reading to learn the top causes of burnout among nurses and how your team can take action.

Top Causes of Nurse Burnout:

1) Lack of Nurse-to-Nurse Teamwork

Feeling like you are a part of a team is important no matter where you are working. For nurses who work long hours with others on your staff, feeling like you do not fit in can be incredibly isolating. The inability to build moral and collaborate with others in their position can quickly lead to nurse burnout.

2) Autonomy

Nurses seek autonomy in their position to a certain degree. Without it, their job begins to feel micromanaged and their confidence in their ability to care for patients declines. If a nurse is constantly being watched over their shoulder, they might doubt their own ability to do their job or become frustrated by the tension.

3) Understaffed/ Under-equipped

Nothing is worse than working a shift where there are not enough hands on deck or the proper equipment or PPE to stay safe and manage your shift effectively. Many individuals experience nurse burnout due to understaffing and being forced to work extra hours to compensate. This can make them feel as though they are stretched too thin, trying to do too much in not enough time.

4) Lack of Free Time

As a result of often needing to work extra or odd hours to fill shifts and make sure your practice has enough nurses on staff, some nurses experience burnout due to a lack of personal or “free” time. They feel as though they are spending too much time working, resulting in them becoming emotionally detached from their job, affecting their ability to help patients.

5) Unresponsive Leadership

Leadership has a huge impact on nurse burnout. Nurses who are micromanaged by leadership sometimes feel they cannot openly express their frustrations. They also may feel like their leaders are not responsive to their needs and requests, which often leads to nurse burnout.

Solutions to Relieve Nurse Burnout:

1) Structured Scheduling

Structured scheduling is a great way to reduce nurse burnout and return individuals back to their personal lives. When a nurse has a set schedule, they are able to plan their free time around work and experience more ‚Äúlife‚Äù than when they are constantly jumping around different shifts. Helping nurses return to their personal lives leads to less disassociation from one’s job, improving their ability to offer quality care.

2) Open Leadership

Open leadership is the next step to reduce nurse burnout. What is open leadership? Nurses need leaders who are willing to listen and take action when their concerns and frustrations are expressed. They want a leader who will be empathetic whenever it is needed and will give them the freedom they need to do their job well.

3) Trust

You as the provider need to trust that your nurses know how to do their job and that they will come to you if they need help. Giving your nurses the autonomy they need in order to build confidence in their own abilities and grow is essential to reducing nurse burnout.

4) Team-Building

Lastly, taking steps to help your nurses connect as a team with each other and others at your practice is a fantastic way to build morale and prevent any nurse from feeling isolated during their work time. Take steps to connect your staff to one another as well as connect them to resources that help them build relationships.

Your practice technology can also have a great impact on physician and nurse burnout. Utilizing the right technology and resources at your practice can help your team worry less about processes like billing and focus more on patient care. To learn more, click here.