Nurses are Burning Out With Little Support for Their Mental Health

Nearly one-third of surveyed nurses say senior management doesn't support their mental and emotional well-being.

More than half (56%)  of nurses believe they're sacrificing their mental health for their job, and  41%  are considering leaving the profession for good, a new survey says.

Amid a severe healthcare worker shortage, increased hours, and constant risk of exposure to COVID-19, the survey's results relate to more than stress.

"Our nurses are not experiencing fatigue or burnout; they are experiencing significant moral injury and critical distress to their emotional foundation," said Rebecca Love,  chief clinical officer for nurse staffing agency IntelyCare, Inc., which commissioned the survey.

""We know that most of what is being offered to the front lines in terms of whole-person support does not address the moral injury that nurses are experiencing, she said.

While  managing their patients' care used to be their primary task, the pandemic has required them to shoulder increased emotional responsibilities.

For example, because of COVID restrictions, family members were not able to visit their hospitalized loved ones, so in the event of their passing, nurses had to  notify their families of the death. Many times, nurses made the mobile phone calls or video chats to allow family members to say goodbye to their dying loved one.

Nearly one-third (32%) of nurses see the death of a patient as a significant stressor; however, more than  58% said they aren't offered grief counseling to process the loss themselves, according to the survey.

More than 500 nurses – including certified nursing assistants (CNAs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and registered nurses (RNs) - were surveyed, with 37% said they don't feel supported in their mental health. 41% felt they weren't supported overall by senior management.

And while 72% said they do have access to mental health resources through their job, only 10% said that they have  used it.

"The question we should be asking is 'Why aren't they using it?'" said Love. "Is there a stigma we need to get our nursing workforce the help they need to manage the post-traumatic stress of being on the front lines of our health system?"

Love added that pandemic has only further aggravated the industry's staffing shortage. Currently, at some rural hospitals, there's a one to 12 ratio of nurses treating patients. In addition to long shifts, there are constant demands for them to work overtime – many are even asked to work on their days off.

The staffing shortage has persisted throughout the pandemic to the extent where taking time off has become a major challenge. Of the nurses surveyed, 29% didn't take a vacation in 2021, 27% didn't take time off the previous month, and almost 40% are simply unable to.