Capstone Nursing Project

Example Paper on Nurse Burnout Literature Review

The review of literature will help to see how the PICOT question has been researched by other authors and the evidence that is available regarding the question. The PICOT question is: In patients who are hospitalized/SNF’s(P), how does reducing the number of hours nurses work per week(I) compared to an increase in overtime(C) affect nurses satisfaction towards their job and patients satisfaction with the nursing staff(O) during their stay(T). As such, the literature review aims to find out how the authors have researched the topic of nurses burnout and its effect on the job satisfaction as well as service rendered to patients.

Research Questions

Various articles tackling the issue of burnouts among nurses tackle different research questions. For instance, Dall’Oral et al. (2015) research the association between working long hours and burnouts and job dissatisfaction. Similarly, Stimpfell et al. (2012) compare long hours with burnouts, job dissatisfaction, and intention to leave jobs by the nurses. A different question researched in connection with the PICOT is the connection of nurse environments with the nursing outcomes due to burnout (Valley, et al., 2010). Stimpfel & Aiken (2014) research the connection between shift length, scheduling characteristics, and safety and quality. Of the four sets of authors two research identical questions regarding the connection of burnouts with job satisfaction while the other two research connected questions on scheduling and safety due to burnout.

Further, Wisetborisut et al. (2014) simply research the relationship between shiftwork and burnout. The risks that long hours of work, poor sleep, and shift work cause to employees and patients are researched by Caruso (2013). This research is similar to Stimpfel and Aiken’s concerning the safety of workers as well as patients. Lockley et al. (2007) study the effects of long work hours for nurses on their safety and the errors that they make. The other research was by Canadas De la Fuente et al. (2014), and it assessed the prevalence of burnout. Most of the research questions seek to find the job satisfaction and safety related to burnouts. Also, the issue of prevalence of burnouts is viewed in the research articles.

Sample Populations

The authors use different sample populations, which make their studies varied and thus covering wide populations. Canadas De la Fuente et al. (2014), for instance, carry out their research in public health centers in Andalusia, Spain. Lockley et al. (2007) carry out their research across different hospitals in the U.S. Caruso (2013) carries out his study in the Midwest while Wisetborisut et al. (2014) undertake their research at Chiang Mai University Hospital, Thailand. Another area where the sample population is taken from is 577 acute care hospitals in four U.S states by Stimpfel & Aiken (2014). Valey et al. (2010) researched 20 urban hospitals across the U.S.

The authors engage in different geological areas thus increasing the validity of their findings. Stimpfel et al. (2012) carried their quantitative research in four states, the same area that they further carried out a qualitative research. Finally, Dall’Oral et al. (2015) carried out their research in 12 general Med-Surg European hospitals. The sample populations taken by each of the researchers show diversity and the coverage of a wide area of study. For instance, among the eight sets of researchers, only one set carries out their research in a single location. The diverse set of the sample populations allows the researchers to explore the different populations. The most diverse population sample is the 577 acute care hospitals where Stimpfel and Aiken carry out their research. Therefore, the PICOT research spread out in the U.S and parts of Europe and Asia presents compelling results.

Limitations

The research carried out by the different researchers provides a good basis for the PICOT study. However, there are various limitations to the studies that they carry out in the different areas. The first limitation observed is with Wisetborisut et al. (2014) whereby the research was carried out in only one hospital. The researchers carried out an online questionnaire research with employees from only one hospital thus reducing the validity of the results. The other limitation observed in the literature review is the use of cross-sectional study in the research (Caruso, 2013; Lockley et al., 2007). Although the cross-sectional research may have produced results from the population, the research is limited to the feelings of the sample population at that moment. Therefore, it fails to validate the results over different atmospheres and time differences.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The analysis of the eight research articles allows the development of insight in the issue of nurse burnout and how it affects dissatisfaction as well as the risks that it presents. As such, it supports the PICOT study regarding the effects of long hours on the nursing burnout and the risks that they experience in the case of the burnout. Further research can be conducted on how to manage the shift work to ensure that nurses finish their work within a ‘safe’ period where they will not experience burnouts as they lead to increased risks and lower job satisfaction levels.

The articles recommend that nursing working hours should be shortened to at most 12 hours per 24 hour day and 60 hours per week. Also, they come up with the recommendation that nursing environment be improved to limit the effects of burnout and increase the nurses’ efficiency in the working place. The training of managers is also necessary to avoid the work shifts that cause burnouts. The government should also be involved in setting a shift-hour limit. These articles form a proper basis for examining the PICOT question in focus. Further study in the appropriate means of reducing the shift hours and increasing safety can be done to assist in eliminating the burnouts.

References

Cañadas-De la Fuente, A. (2015). Risk factors and prevalence of burnout syndrome in the nursing profession. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 52(1), 240 – 249. DOI:

Caruso, C. (2013). Negative Impacts of Shiftwork and Long Work Hours. Rehabilitation Nursing; 39(1): 16–25. doi:

Dall’Ora, C., Grifitths, P., Ball, J., Simon, M. & Aiken, L. (2015). Association of 12 h shifts and nurses’ job satisfaction, burnout and intention to leave: findings from a cross-sectional study of 12 European countries. BMJ Open 2015; 5: e008331. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008331

Lockley, S., Barger, L. & Ayas, N. (2007). Effects of Health Care Provider Work Hours and Sleep Deprivation on Safety and Performance. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 33(11), 7-18.

, W., , W., and , L. (2012). The Longer the Shifts or Hospital Nurses, the Higher the Levels of Burnout and Patient Dissatisfaction. Health Affairs, 31(11), 2501-2509. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2011.1377

Stimpfel, W. & Aiken, L. (2014). Hospital Staff Nurses’ Shift Length Associated with Safety and Quality of Care. doi:

, D., Aiken, L., Sloane, D., Clarke, S., & Vargas, D. (2004). Nurse Burnout and Patient Satisfaction. doi:

Wisetborisut, C., Angkurawaranon, W., Jiraporncharoen, R., & Wiwatanadate, A. (2014). Shift Work and Burnout Among Health Care Workers. Occupational Medicine, https://academic.oup.com/occmed/article/64/4/279/1464114/Shift-work- and-burnout-among-health-care- workers. Capstone Nursing Project.