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Project Overview: Employee Burnout

Brinlee Brooks, Kaitlyn Brin, Elle Liddell, Shawnee Payne, and Kaite Jones

Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Utah Tech University

NURS 4700

Professor Jami Griffin

February 4th, 2024

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Project Overview:

Problem, opportunity, or situation to be changed:

Workplace violence affected over 20,000 individuals in the year 2020. According

to the CDC, 73% of those individuals were female, and 76% of those individuals were

involved in healthcare or social work (Occupational Violence - Fast Facts | NIOSH |

CDC, n.d.). Our project is on the specific challenge of workplace violence. Recognizing

the widespread issue of nurse burnout is key; affecting 62% of nurses overall and the

percentage is even higher among younger nurses: 69% under 25 (American Nurses

Association, 2023). We aim to reduce burnout rates by addressing workplace violence

and educating nurses on recognizing the potential of violence, specifically at Coral Desert

Rehabilitation.

Success will be measured through several outcomes, including lower burnout

rates, fewer reported incidents of workplace violence, understanding of available

resources and guides on handling workplace violence, and overall improved nurse

well-being. Our strategy centers on implementing an education program that focuses on

educating nurses about workplace boundaries, particularly when dealing with aggressive

patients, de-escalation techniques, and how to assess a situation.

We aim to guide them in asserting their rights and contribute to creating a culture

of respect and open communication within healthcare teams. Potential risks include

organizational resistance to change and the willingness to integrate education into nurse

training. The overarching goal of our project is to instill positive changes in nurse
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well-being and the healthcare work environment, with the ultimate aim of reducing nurse

burnout.

Project goals: (SMART GOAL)

S: Provide de-escalation skills training for 90% of Coral Desert Rehab staff, covering

verbal techniques, non-aggressive body language, and mitigation strategies during this

training. We will also cover recognizing warning signs, situational awareness, and risk

assessments for violence.

M: Assess the application of de-escalation techniques in real-life situations with a target

of a 25% reduction in escalated incidents. We will also conduct pre and post-training

assessments with the aim for 20% improvement in participants' ability to identify

potential risks of violence.

A: Develop realistic scenarios for training with time for each staff member to ensure that

staff have opportunities to practice de-escalation techniques as well as recognize potential

risks for violence. This would consist of a 15-minute teaching as well as, 15-minutes

allotted for practice scenarios.

R: Equipping staff with de-escalation skills and enhancing the team's ability to assess and

mitigate risks contributes to the overall goal of reducing workplace violence.

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T: 90% of staff members at Coral Desert Rehab will complete the in-person training for

de-escalation techniques and recognizing potential risks for violence in the next 3

months.

Objectives:

Objective #1: Risk assessment: educate healthcare team members to assess and identify

potential risks for workplace violence.

Strategies:

● Provide training on recognizing warning signs

● Situational awareness

● Risk assessments for violence

● Reduce wait times, improve lighting, increase staff in high-stress areas/times

Objective #2: De-Escalation Techniques- Equip the staff with de-escalation skills to help

defuse violent situations.

Strategies:

● Offer training on verbal de-escalation

● Non-aggressive body language

● Mitigation techniques

● Establishing clear boundaries/expectations

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Measure of success:

● 20% improvement in participants' ability to identify potential risks for violence

(pre and post-training surveys)
● Decreased turnover rates
● Enhanced patient satisfaction scores
● Improved quality of care metrics
● Lower incidence of workplace violence/accidents
● Less call outs/no call no show
● Increased reports of well-being by nurses
● Increased understanding of nursing rights

Approach or method:

The best approach for this issue is an educational approach. Providing members

of the healthcare team with informational material, will better equip them to respond to

stressful situations and understand why burnout occurs. Not only will this increase

personal resilience, but can help lead to less caregiver burnout, increased patient

satisfaction, and decreased rates of workplace violence. This could also address the high

employee turnover rate by creating an environment where the employees feel cared for

and part of a team.

The ideal teaching materials include visual aids, take-home pamphlets, and

practice scenarios. These could include things such as exemplar videos, steps to diffuse

high-stress situations or patients, acceptable self-defense methods, or even self-care

practices. It may be beneficial for healthcare companies to host training sessions with

examples of real-world patient scenarios and run through simulations with the members

of the healthcare team to familiarize them with high-stress situations and allow them to

practice their new skills.

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Assumptions and risks:

A few risks involved in this approach include short staffing issues leading to

higher stress/patient loads for nurses and decreased rates of patient satisfaction, failure of

management to follow through with providing education and advocating for their nurses,

lack of funding by the company to create resources and education material for staff, and

varying levels of employee participation and compliance.

One of the biggest roadblocks to be faced is the issue of short staffing. Nurses

experience caregiver burnout and workplace violence more frequently when their

workplace is understaffed. The lack of nurses creates larger patient loads and higher

levels of stress for the nurses at the bedside. Not only this, but it makes it difficult to find

time to train nurses because many of them are working on the floor when this

could/would be conducted. In turn, this creates more dissatisfaction among patients and

increases rates of workplace violence.

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References

Aires, G. P., & Palucci, M. H. (2018). Indicators of burnout in primary health care

workers. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 71, 2334–2342.

https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2017-0530

American Nurses Association (2023). Nurse burnout: What is it & how to prevent it.

American Nurses Association Journal

https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/work-environment/health-safety/nur

se-burnout-and-how-to-prevent-it/#:~:text=Results%20from%20a%202020%20sur

vey,care%20systems%20in%20the%20U.S.

Haejun, C., Sujin, S., Seungji, K., & Sungran, K. (2023). Effects of clinical nurses’

responses to violence on burnout: The moderating role of positive psychological

capital. Korean Journal of Adult Nursing, 35(4), 406–417.

https://doi.org/10.7475/kjan.2023.35.4.406

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022). Occupational violence: Fast facts.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Retrieved January 29,

2024, from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/violence/fastfacts.html

Yang, Q., Yang, L., Yang, C., Wu, X., Chen, Y., & Yao, P. (2023). Workplace violence

against nursing interns and patient safety: The multiple mediation effect of

professional identity and professional burnout. Nursing Open, 10(5), 3104–3112.

https://doi-org.libproxy.utahtech.edu/10.1002/nop2.1560
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