The majority of nurses who responded to a recent survey by LNC STAT are unhappy with their working conditions. The report emphasizes that the challenges nurses face would most likely have a negative effect on the quality of care they are able to provide for their patients.
In 2018, the online survey was conducted covering 100 nurses from across the US and nurses who were practicing in clinical areas and some who had left clinical practice.
The findings of the survey contribute some insights to the growing international concern over the shortage of nurses and its effects on patient care. Among the respondents in clinical practice, 67% felt that their unit was too understaffed to provide high-quality patient care. This figure correlates with a 2017 finding in a survey by RNNetwork where 62% of the nurses felt that the national nursing shortage had strongly impacted their workload. In another survey by AMN HealthCare in 2017, 44% of nurses said that they don’t usually have the time they need to spend with their patients.
In addition, 55% of the respondents felt that their employer was preventing them from providing better health care for their patients and 84% reported that they had felt weariness. In line with this, a number of research studies have also shown that nurse fatigue and burnout have a detrimental effect on patient care, safety, and satisfaction.
Bullying and violence against nurses are also some of the many alarming issues in the nursing profession. The survey reveals 58% of the nurses felt bullied by a doctor or supervisor. This figure is somewhat higher than the 41% average of nurses who reported that they had been bullied by either other nurses, managers or administrators, or doctors in the RNNetwork survey.
Moreover, 27% of the respondents in clinical practice 27% reported that they had sustained an injury or illness in the last two years as a result of the failure on the part of their employers and 55% felt that they lack the equipment to protect themselves from job-related injuries.
In the light of the findings, the LNC STAT pointed out that the cost-cutting practices by health care facilities and administration were often to blame for the difficulties experienced by nurses.
“It is widely accepted that Nurses are the backbone of healthcare, but at what point is healthcare taking advantage of them? These results show that more has to be done.”
“It is widely accepted that Nurses are the backbone of healthcare, but at what point is healthcare taking advantage of them? These results show that more has to be done,” said Veronica Castellana, LNC STAT course creator.
Wow…whod’ve thunk, right? Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight. It would have helped to have a larger number of participants for more impact. The people who did this survey should share it with healthcare facilities across the country, along for suggestions for improvement! We can only hope that the powers-that-be eventually listen to nurses and make the necessary changes for a more positive and safe environment.
Yes, I do concur with my colleague above that this was a small sample size and would be nice to capture a larger segment of the nurse population. I also feel the “burn-out” is due to many of the issues that were revealed in the study. It’s more like a moral distress! Even if the people who conducted this study shared this with administrators .. they would not take note!! Why? Because they are only interested in $$$$$ and could care less about nurse satisfaction!!!