Battling Burnout: ANA Arms Nurses With an Effective Weapon

86% of 7,000 participants in last year's program trial applied the strategies they learned to their work or personal life.

A prevention program that reduced burnout in more than 52% of pilot program participants is now available as a permanent benefit to the entire American Nurses Association (ANA) membership.

“It has been over two long years since COVID-19 became part of our lives and the strain on nursing and the profession is profound,” Loressa Cole, DNP, MBA, RN, FAAN, NEA-BC, chief executive officer of ANA, said in announcing the new Burnout Prevention Program benefit.

“Recent data finds 84% of registered nurses are experiencing burnout and only 42% of nurses feel their employer values their mental health,” she said. “ANA wants to help our members by making a great resource easily available.”

Nearly 7,000 ANA members signed up for the program during last summer’s trial, with these results:

• 52% of members surveyed claimed the program reduced their sense of burnout.
• 86% applied the strategies they learned to their work or personal life.
• 90% were satisfied with the Burnout Prevention Program.
• 95% asked ANA to add it as a permanent member benefit.

The program, developed by SE Healthcare, a healthcare data analytics provider, gives nurses on-demand access to more than 190 “bite-size” videos on real-world challenges faced by nurses, with such topics as Building a Better Day Off; Delegation—What a Revelation; Shared Governance; and Ethical Dilemmas.

The program, available on a mobile app, also includes a continually updated reference library of peer-reviewed, scholarly articles that support evidence-based interventions, Cole said.

“Not only can you create an individualized well-being care plan, but you can also earn up to 22 free continuing education credits,” she said.

“We chose the SE Healthcare program because it uses real-world clinical data by nurses who understand the day-to-day experiences of our members,” said Stephen Fox, ANA’s vice president of membership and constituent relations.

“We were also pleased to see that 86% of nurses said they have actually used a strategy in their work or personal life, which is a tremendous result for any program,” Fox said.  

A confidential four-question assessment tool also assists in identifying the nurse’s top stressors that are a result of the work processes or environment, which are analyzed by demographics and location, and supported by a visual data dashboard, according to SE Healthcare.

The tool’s Summary of Findings report can help nurse leaders properly address and lower, or even prevent, burnout in their staff.

The burnout program also includes access to an anonymous survey, which Cole encouraged nurses to take, to “enable us to use the findings to advocate on behalf of nurses and drive change at the national level.”