Influence of Workload on Primary Care Nurses’ Health and Burnout, Patients’ Safety, and Quality of Care: Integrative Review

Abstract

The increase in the demand for care has not led to a proportional growth in the number of primary care nurses. This imbalance is related to the decrease in the quality of care and patient safety, and also to the impact on the health of the professional group. The objective of this study is to identify relationships between overload, illness of the nurse, professional exhaustion, quality and safety in the services; and differentiate study methods and instruments for measuring the phenomena. For this, a comprehensive and structured review of the literature following the scoping review model is performed. The studies on which this review is based allow us to recognize that the scope of this phenomenon is global. The review includes 45 studies that show that there is a high pressure of care for Primary Care nursing, who suffer many alterations of their health due to burnout syndrome and that this situation contributes to the impairment of the quality of care and patient safety. However, for future lines, new evidence is needed to determine the degree of relationship between the high pressure suffered by Primary Care nursing and the attainment of health goals for professionals and patients.

South Korean Nurses’ Experiences with Patient Care at a COVID-19-Designated Hospital: Growth after the Frontline Battle against an Infectious Disease Pandemic

“…Burnout in nurses negatively affects their physical and mental health, can contribute to a decline in patients' quality of care, and potentially threatens patient safety [42]. Therefore, strategies to prevent burnout among nurses during an epidemic are needed.…”

Influence of workload, mental health and professional quality of life on healthcare workers’ hand hygiene behavior in medical aid during COVID-19 pandemic

“…Workload was a toughly quanti able variable, which was measured by qualitative interview, number of patients, speci c questionnaires of each study and no tool [9,10]. We used a self-reported item to measure workload by ve-point Likert scale.…”

“…The workload of HCWs increases with the growing number of con rmed and suspected cases of COVID-19, which may worsen their mental burden [3]. Pérez-Francisco found that increasing workload leads to burnout and affects related phenomena including health status of HCWs and the quality of care [10]. Detailly, Aiken indicated that effect of increased workload was manifested through burnout [11].…”

Prioritization of Medical Errors in Patient Safety Management: Framework Using Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets

“…Modern healthcare institutions are generally defined as service organizations operating for the production and delivery of health services by coordinating all factors in a conscious, systematic, and harmonized way, in order to meet the health needs of people [88,89]. For that reason, healthcare providers have to respond to a growing demand for a good and acceptable quality of care.…”