Comments on: Nurse Burnout: Recognize the signs

By: Bret

Bret — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:09:26 +0000

Linda, Thanks for the comment. I recently wrote an article about "How to beat nursing burnout, part 1" that hopefully can offer you some tips to avoid burnout. I'm also currently working on a post that deals with recovering from burnout that may be of some interest to you.

By: Linda

Linda — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:12:01 +0000

What else can we do? Burnout several times and no more energy after 36years?

By: Bret

Bret — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:27:12 +0000

Thanks for the comments Elsah! Burnout is a hot topic and has been a problem for nurses for many years. Given our current economic situation, I think we may see a rise in burnout due to the scenarios I mention in the article.

Obviously we now need to follow up this article with some strategies on how to overcome burnout. I’m glad you posted your link. It looks like a great way to rise above burnout.

By: Elsah Cort, RN

Elsah Cort, RN — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:58:13 +0000

To learn more about the nursing burnout retreats I offer near Sequoia National Park in California, visit http://thedeeperwell.com. I offer this information not as a solicitation but as a service for nurses.

By: Elsah Cort, RN

Elsah Cort, RN — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:54:41 +0000

A twitter person referred this article saying, “I have all these symptoms, now what?” Most nurses with these sx already know that they are serious, but cannot always remove the sources of the problems. I have been concerned that during this economic job downturn that burned out nurses will find themselves in an even deeper pickle. They have a job! And they will not be so easily able to leave the job to find a new one. Plus they keep hearing from everyone else how fortunate they are to be a nurse! As a burned out registered nurse of 40 years, I often changed jobs or specialties to relieve burnout and find new energy about my work. This approach only goes so far. Sooner or later, the burnout returns……as it has a deeper evolutionary process than just being exhausted by the nature and difficulty of the practice of nursing itself. For a long while I have seen that the “cure” (not a word I am really fond of) for burnout is in the burnout itself. To see this notion as more than a poetic reference, requires openness to an assimilation of holistic views of healing and the healing professions. Burnout can be seen as a sign that “something is afoot” as Sherlock Holmes would say. What I hope is afoot is a major shift in the nursing mind-set of how to practice nursing itself, how to assist with individual healing processes in the persons entrusted to their care without imposing an out-moded, ridgid, often pharmecuetical-oriented, and even now, old fashioned, healthcare system that we continue to refer to as modern medicine. I teach burnout retreats, not so much as a way to heal nurses themselves, but as a way to re-invent the work of the nursing profession. This is a work-in-progress and is a collaborative effort. The answer I would give to the person who says, I already have the symptoms of burnout and want to know what to do next is……….look at what is in front of you at this very moment–in your mind, in your day, in your face–and don’t react in the same old way you have been doing expecting something new to happen. Stop looking outside yourself for the answer, instead look outside for fellow travelers on the burnout road and start up a conversation, but most importantly start exactly where you are right now.