Alleviating Emotional Exhaustion in Oncology Nurses: an Evaluation of Wellspring’s “Care for the Professional Caregiver Program”

Abstract

A high level of burnout has been demonstrated in oncologists, nurses, and other health professionals. Interventions developed in response demonstrate mixed results. Wellspring, a community cancer support organization, has developed a 1-day session called Care for the Professional Caregiver Program (CPCP) and has delivered it to over 700 healthcare workers. The present study assessed the effects of the CPCP on three groups of oncology nurses (pediatric, surgical, and general oncology staff) and one group of nurse managers. Subjects completed the Maslach burnout inventory (MBI), the General health questionnaire (GHQ) and the short form of the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability scale (M-C) prior to receiving the intervention. They then completed the MBI and GHQ at 1-month and 7-month follow-ups. Six months after the original session, a small subset of subjects was randomly selected to participate in a 1-day CPCP booster session. At baseline, one third of the nurses showed high burnout on the MBI. The nurses demonstrated a significant decrease in emotional exhaustion and an improvement on the GHQ, at the 1-month follow-up testing (p = 0.003 and 0.001, respectively) and 7-month follow-up testing (p = 0.002 and 0.001). The booster session proved difficult to deliver because of institutional scheduling problems due to nurse shortages, so only a small percentage (22%) of the sample participated; however, it was well received. Thus, the CPCP is effective in ameliorating emotional exhaustion, an intrinsic aspect of burnout.

Relationship Between Nursing Managers’ Leadership Styles and Nurses’ Job Burnout: A Study at Shahid Dr. Faghihi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran

“…Job burnout is a pattern which is related to emotional exhaustion which happen for people in a job (1,2). Job burnout is a reaction to chronic occupational stresses; it is described in terms of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment (3,4).…”

Coping strategies of nurses in the care of patients with head and neck neoplasms

“…This type of cancer requires adaptation and control strategies by health professionals, generating challenges for nurses as they constantly experience the suffering of patients (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) . In the education of nurses, the care to patients with facial image alteration is conceived as a complex and impressive experience that may affect the care and interaction between nurse and patient.…”

“…In the education of nurses, the care to patients with facial image alteration is conceived as a complex and impressive experience that may affect the care and interaction between nurse and patient. The care to head and neck cancer surgical patients is a potential threat to the physical and emotional balance of nurses (3)(4)(5)8) . The occupational reality requires the ability to adapt to stressing situations that require the development of a coping process (3)(4)(5)(6)8) .…”

“…The care to head and neck cancer surgical patients is a potential threat to the physical and emotional balance of nurses (3)(4)(5)8) . The occupational reality requires the ability to adapt to stressing situations that require the development of a coping process (3)(4)(5)(6)8) . These coping strategies are either learned and maintained or not throughout the life of an individual, depending on reinforcement schemes experienced during the professional history of the individual (2,8) , and they may be seen as a health protection factor for nurses inserted in the work context (9) .…”

Estrategias que modulan el síndrome de Burnout en enfermeros (as): una revisión bibliográfica

“…Las acciones que desarrollan las enfermeras para manejar el estrés varían de acuerdo con su experiencia laboral. Las enfermeras con mínima experiencia (3 y 6 meses) realizan actividades con el fin de alejar su atención del estrés, mientras que las enfermeras con mayor experiencia utilizan el aislamiento y competencia laboral como mecanismo de defensa (38).Nueve artículos (7,9,14,15,29,30,34, 35,38) señalan que las intervenciones se realizaron también de forma grupal. El trabajo en grupo es una herramienta útil para promover aproximaciones entre los participantes y, en relación con sus situaciones comunes, facilita la realización de la tarea profesional al contribuir con la satisfacción en el ambiente de trabajo (39).…”