By Vickie Milazzo
A huge thank-you to everyone who took our survey “Are You Way Too Stressed Out?”
A remarkable 3,312 of you took the time out of your busy day to complete the survey, and this high response rate highlights the seriousness of this issue to the nursing world.
The results of the survey reveal the dangerous levels of stress that RNs pervasively live with, both at work and in their personal lives. Lack of sleep, 12-hour shifts, night shifts, poor diets, unrealistic workloads, lack of authority at the workplace and unsupportive management are just some of the key contributors to the stress being experienced by RNs today.
RNs are neglected by a system that overworks, under-appreciates and marginalizes the experience of individuals who are the most connected to patients.
Respondents had the opportunity to answer the question, “What are some of the things that stress you out the most?” Many of you were brutally candid, and I cringe at what you continue to put up with on a daily basis. These five responses are representative of the thousands received.
-
“People who have never done your job telling you how to do it. People who have lost sight of the patient — the focus is the $$.”
-
“Not having the authority to take care of the things that need to be done, but being responsible for it.”
-
“Long hours (12-hr shifts), working nights, poor pay, poor benefits that are dependent on maintaining hours to prevent losing the benefits, lack of PTO to cover sick/vacation days.”
-
“Overwork with no relief in sight, working for $3 to $5 dollars less than average city wages …”
-
“Corporate chaos, lack of support, unrealistic expectations, being put in possible license jeopardy due to corporate greed and mismanagement.”
The system is broken! The very people treating patients are sick and in need of healing themselves. This is crazy.
The stress placed on RNs is eventually going to cause many of them to quit. Our nursing system is already grappling with an aging workforce and an aging general population. While the nation will need an increased number of RNs, we’re likely hurtling toward a nursing shortage. Stress leads to mistakes and errors, and hospital errors are already the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Put it all together, and we may be headed for a national healthcare crisis.
This is a report you will not want to miss. Download the full PDF report below and click through the SlideShare presentation, and share your own experiences with stress as an RN in the Reply section below. I want to hear from you!
Source: nurse.com
