Why Don’t We Think (Or Talk) About Nurse Burnout?

Here are 3 suggestions to start the nurse burnout discussion: Ask experienced nurses to share their burnout stories. That’s right. If you speak to a mentor, someone that you look up to, and ask them to tell you their burnout story… they are likely to have one. Or many! Instead of acting like burnout does not happen, let’s learn from it! Have these nurses with more time or experience share with the newer nurses that it is normal to feel this way. Begin early. With nursing school. If you are a nurse who works in nursing education, consider bringing nurse burnout to the next curriculum planning meeting. Or, if you don’t work in formal education but are involved in some way with your organization’s staff education department- bring the topic of nurse burnout there. Have no hand in formal education? Bring it up at staff meetings, journal clubs, or in any way that you can. Even you, as an individual nurse (or nursing student), can start these conversations. And start them early. Invite experts in to help. Maybe the discomfort with speaking about burnout comes from the fact that you don’t feel you know enough about it. No worries. There are many nurses out there who specialize in this field. Nurse coaches, holistic nurses, nurse speakers, and nurse authors have dedicated their work to helping nurses with burnout. Make the commitment to find professional support for you and your nursing colleagues. Get your copy of Stop Nurse Burnout: https://elizabethscala.com/stop-nurse-burnout.  Check out the blog post that accompanies this episode here:  https://elizabethscala.com/dont-think-talk-nurse-burnout/