Web site spotlight: The emotional cost of nursing
Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education, July 10, 2009
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education!
Nurses cure the sick, heal the wounded, and comfort the dying, but are they doing so at their own cost?
Jenny Watts, researcher and psychology PhD student at the University of Leicester in Leicester, England, aims to find out with a new project examining the emotional toll of nursing. The project, which follows a large scale methodical review of published literature Watts conducted last year, will explore how exposure to patient suffering and empathy for patients' situations may influence nurses' experiences of distress.
"The [previous] review revealed certain nurse characteristics may predict a specific form of distress," says Watts. "There appear to be many moderating variables, but the literature suggested more empathetic nurses showed greater vulnerability to what had been labeled as burnout and secondary traumatic stress."
Watts' findings indicate nurses who empathize and identify with their patients can share patients' emotional reactions. thus, nurses with highly distressed patients can develop similar symptoms. In addition, dealing with patients' concerns can lead to draining of emotional resources.
Editor's note: To read the rest of this article, visit "The emotional cost of nursing" found in the Reading Room at www.StrategiesForNurseManagers.com. Get a free trial membership that will give you 30 days to test drive all the exciting features on the Web site.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Staff Development Weekly: Insight on Evidence-Based Practice in Education!
Related Products
-
Hospital Safety Center
Improve compliance with hospital safety standards from The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulators with this...
-
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
Learn Life Safety Code tips and interpretations for healthcare facilities with this in-depth monthly resource.
-
CNA Training Advisor: Lesson Plans for Busy Staff Trainers
Finally-a staff training program that really works!
-
Medical Environment Update
Timely medical compliance news from OSHA, CDC, EPA, and other regulatory agencies!
-
Learning Styles in Nursing Education:
This unique book and CD-ROM provide practical, cutting-edge information to help staff development specialists identify...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- HIPAA Q&A: Answering service messages
- News and briefs: Oklahoma Osteopathic Association against residency bill change
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- CMS issues IPPS proposed rule for FY 2013
- The debate continues: Nurses who reported physician to the Texas Medical Board file federal appeal
- E-mailed
-
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- Are your workforce members texting PHI?
- Don't let these sentinel events trigger falsely
- Arkansas woman convicted for HIPAA violation
- Q&A: Coding for protein malnutrition
- Q&A tackles coding questions about injections and infusions
- Joint Commission Center announces handoff communication solutions
- Inside best practice: Reduce patient falls with a stoplight
- Identify modifiable risk factors to prevent patient falls
- Hospitalist-surgeon comanagement has no effect on outcomes
- Searched