NUR 3643-Module 9 Course Project Assignment-Significance of Identified Practice Problem

Throughout my clinical experience at Rasmussen University, I have seen many nurses who expressed the exhaustion and stress they feel from their jobs. I have witnessed depersonalization occur specifically in the ICU, causing the nurses not to treat the patient with empathy and solely be task-oriented. These characteristics are a response to persistent work-related stress called burnout (Mohr et al., 2021).

Burnout affects the patient, the nurses, and the facility financially. Burnout in nurses can frequently happen in critical care units because they are commonly subjected to complex patient care, moral distress, dying patients, and perceived delivery of inappropriate care (Mohr et al., 2021). Burnout can cause delayed recovery, increased length of stay, higher infection rates, lower patient satisfaction, lower employee satisfaction, and higher turnover rates (Mohr et al., 2021).

A study conducted by Mohr et al. showed that in facilities with higher burnout rates, their staff had lower employee satisfaction, significantly higher turnover intention, and a longer-than-expected length of stay (2021). Registered nurse turnover costs a hospital between $3.6 million and $6.5 million annually, and $270,800 could be saved by the average hospital by each percentage the turnover is reduced (2021 NSI National, 2021).

Research Question

 Does providing education on self-care to critical care nurses reduce burnout?

Population: Critical care nurses

Critical care nurses have one of the highest burnout rates in the field of nursing (Mohr et al., 2021). Critical care nurses take care of patients with life-threatening injuries or illnesses, which requires them to think critically and clearly in a fast-paced environment for long periods (NURSEJOURNAL STAFF, 2021). Nurses in this field must also communicate clearly with the patient, their family, other nurses, and interdisciplinary teams to provide quality care and stabilize the patient (NURSEJOURNAL STAFF, 2021). Critical care nurses typically work in intensive care units (ICU) and step-down units.

Intervention: Education on self-care

Providing education on self-care strategies would provide nurses with the tools needed to help reduce the burnout they experience from work-related stress. Basic self-care, such as eating well, sleeping, and exercising, is neglected in nurses who experience burnout, and this neglect of self-care increases the symptoms of burnout (Couser, 2020). Other self-care strategies include practising spirituality, mindfulness, art therapy, breathing techniques, yoga, guided imagery, aromatherapy, acupressure, self-massage, music therapy, journaling, or finding an enjoyable hobby (Blackburn et al., 2020). The education is to be provided by the facility with the use of evidence-based self-care strategies.

Comparison: Education on self-care to no education

The intervention would be compared to not providing education about self-care strategies. This comparison could be completed by surveying the nurses before delivering the intervention to assess for symptoms of burnout and perceived experience of burnout. This comparison is the best way to determine the success of the intervention.

Outcome: Reduce burnout

The outcomes of this question include reduced, increased, or no change in burnout. The intervention outcomes could be determined by measuring the symptoms of burnout, perceived feelings of burnout, and turnover rates related to burnout before and after the intervention.

Questions about personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization would be used to measure the nurses’ perceived burnout and symptoms.

Evidence Retrieval

 Professional Team Members

 A psychiatrist or someone with at least a Master’s level education in psychology would be utilized to create or find the questions to be asked in the questionnaires given to the nurses. To gather evidence on the efficacy of the intervention, questionnaires would be used. With guidance from a professional with education in psychology, the questions and scales in the questionnaires would be more precise and ensure the relevant information is included.

Clinical research nurses would be included on the team to gather and appraise evidence. Clinical research nurses ensure that data collection is accurate, management of the data, and support the implementation and compliance of the study (Hastings, 2009). A medical librarian would assist in the retrieval of evidence. Medical librarians are trained in conducting searches and can make retrieving data more efficient and help train the nurses in searching f