The night before your next nursing shift, a familiar feeling overcomes you.
Exhausted from today’s shift, you’re already dreading tomorrow. You’re a good nurse. You love giving others the care they need. You used to love your job. You’re not alone. More than 2.7-million nurses are suffering from healthcare burnout.
How do you know if you’re one of them? Check out these surefire signs that you have healthcare burnout.
What is burnout?
While burnout has become a bit of a buzzword in recent years, what is it exactly? It’s a condition that shares some common traits with depression and other mood disorders. These traits include emotional exhaustion, hopelessness, and loss of interest in hobbies and passions.
The difference between depression and burnout is that burnout results directly in your work environment, commonly caused by strenuous and exhaustive work conditions lacking support.
It is no surprise then that nurses face a higher-than-average burnout rate, thanks to long hours, understaffed shifts, and a lack of administrative resources.
If you’re wondering if you are suffering from healthcare burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory can be used to answer this question. This inventory identifies 3 primary signs of workplace burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment. Let’s explore these signs and when nurses should apply for new, more supportive jobs.
Emotional Exhaustion
A significant flag of burnout in the workplace is when you feel emotionally drained. This emotional exhaustion frequently leads to feeling physically exhausted too.
Some ways emotional exhaustion manifest for nurses include:
Low energy both during and after shifts
Feeling helpless about changing your current work situation
The hopelessness that you can receive the resources you need to thrive at work
Feeling stressed or overwhelmed faster than usual
Depersonalization
This sign of burnout relates to how we interact with others. When we suffer depersonalization, we separate ourselves from others and feel less empathy for our patients. This detachment can lead to negative feelings toward coworkers and detachment from interpersonal care.
As a nurse, depersonalization could include:
More arguments and conflicts with coworkers
Becoming more irritated than usual when dealing with patients
Zoning out during work meetings or training
Not putting as much effort into caring for patients
Low Personal Accomplishment
The third sign from the inventory explores professional happiness: do you feel accomplished in your career? If you answered the latter, it’s not because you are an inadequate nurse. Instead, you are more than likely experiencing burnout.
Burnout often leads to feeling unsuccessful and unsatisfied in our work lives. As a nurse, this could look like this:
Contributing less than usual at work
Beating yourself up over minor errors and mistakes
Feeling a lack of fulfillment in your nursing shifts
Feeling dissatisfied with your role but unsure what you want to do next
Healthcare Burnout Takeaway
You could be suffering from healthcare burnout if you’re experiencing emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, or low personal accomplishment. While there are many tips to recover from nurse burnout, one of the best solutions is to find a more supportive nursing role.
Luckily, HireMe Healthcare has plenty of free resources to help you search for your next role. Let us take some stress off your shoulders so you can find a more supportive role faster.