Research Proposal

Elise Hartman
Independent research
2023

Research Title: Taking care of the caretakers; Mental health in nursing

Overview of Research
This research study focuses on nursing and its impact on mental health in the field. Nurses' mental health is
under-looked, they take care of people all day but no one takes care of them, they need to be understood
further. This research indicates that nurses are quitting or going on strike from being burnt out or suffering
from mental illnesses they gained from the job. Research is conducted through surveys given and filled out
by nurses.

Background/History of the Issue and Rationale for Research

An average day for a nurse includes lengthy shifts, unfair patients, and a loss of sleep. These long
shifts can vary in the times of day they can span over, which is causing the increased average amount of loss
in sleeping. Nurses have to interact with patients all day long, some who may be happier than others to be
there, those who are not; make a nurses job increasingly difficult. If the nurse turnover rate (8.8%- 37%)
continues to be this high due to those reasons, more nurses may lose their passion for the job, causing their
quality of performance to decrease and put patients at a higher risk than if they were with another, more
motivated, nurse.
This issue, the falling out of nurses, may prove to hurt people, besides the nurses, as stated in the
article. While it may hurt patients along the way it is also a highly needed profession with not enough people
as it is. This is an important issue since medical facilities are places people go in search of medical help, they
look to people who will focus on their wounds, however with nurses in these states, they can not be focused
and may make mistakes. If these issues become more common, more nurses or doctors may make mistakes
more commonly and patients could get hurt in the process.

Research Methodology
● Research Question/Hypothesis
Some informative research questions came up in my research. Some being the thought of if nurses are happy
with their daily life? A hypothesis I gathered was that most nurses are stressed, overworked, and
overwhelmed on the job. This causes their unhappiness, eventually leading to the increase in the nurse
dropout rate.
● Basis of Hypothesis
Workplace stress for RNs is not an uncommon concern, as three out of four nurses cited the effects of stress
and overwork as a top health concern in an American Nurses Association survey. Illnesses such as
compassion fatigue affects nurses’ mental and physical health and cause part of this common stress. When
fatigued like this, it may impair their decision making, leading to slower responses to patients, and in some
cases it can lead to them forming addictions to harmful things. This amount of stress is a great concern for
their professions and for themselves in general. Illnesses besides compassion fatigue also factor in, such as
depression, which may also affect their work ethic, their morals, and their overall health. If a nurse is
depressed, they can never take full care or focus completely on their patients. In addition, the gender gap in
payment leads to further unhappiness in the profession, this factor leads to some nurses dropping out of the
profession due to their opinion that they are paid unfairly.
G/T Independent Research and G/T Intern/Mentor Program Curriculum
 ● Research Design
I am pursuing a mixed method descriptive case study, and will reach out to professionals to conduct
interviews. I will ask them questions about their personal experiences in what a daily life as a nurse looks
like, as well as what their mental health looks like on the job.
● Operational Definitions
Compassion fatigue- an illness commonly found in nurses, formed when they are overly worked and
overwhelmed with their job. Compassion fatigue is similar to anxiety, depression, and PTSD, it can lead to
the nurse losing the ability to care mentally for their patients normally. It can be a form of burnout, since the
nurse is exhausted so often for little reason.

References
ANA. (2011). 2011 ANA health and safety survey.

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

ITA group. (n.d.). 7 things that cause nurse turnover (and 8 things that stop it).

https://www.itagroup.com/insights/employee-experience/7-things-cause-nurse-turnover-8-things-to-st

op-it#:~:text=The%20national%20average%20for%20turnover,increased%20by%20up%20to%2015

%25

What is compassion fatigue in nursing and how can it be prevented? [Fact sheet]. (2022, January 3). Norwich

University. https://online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/compassion-fatigue-in-nursing

G/T Independent Research and G/T Intern/Mentor Program Curriculum