Survey: High levels of stress, burnout found among dialysis nurses
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The COVID-19 pandemic and workplace challenges are taking a toll on nurses caring for patients on dialysis, according to results of a survey in Nephrology Nursing Journal.
“Many nephrology nurses are experiencing high levels of burnout, anxiety and depression due to the COVID-19 pandemic and work-related stressors,” the American Nephrology Nurses Association (ANNA) said in a press release. “Increasingly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, nephrology nurses have reported issues of heightened stress and strains on their overall well-being. In addition, nephrology employers have reported experiencing mounting difficulties in recruiting nephrology nurses and widespread concerns about attrition.”
ANNA completed the survey and received support from Otsuka Pharmaceuticals.
Survey Results
ANNA surveyed its members from July 24 through August 17, 2020. The Mental Health and Health-Related Quality of Life Among Nephrology Nurses: A Survey-Based Cross-Sectional Study, was conducted by Vicki Montoya, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, and others from ANNA and Otsuka.
"As the pandemic unfolded in 2020, we were hearing about the enormous stresses nephrology nurses were facing,” Montoya said in the release. “We knew there were many workplace challenges before COVID-19, but the pandemic has clearly exacerbated these. And that raises many alarms, not only for nurses’ health, but for patient care and safety.”
Results from the 393 respondents revealed the following:
- 62% reported feeling burned out from work;
- 47% reported symptoms of anxiety; and
- 16% reported symptoms of major depressive episodes.
Workload was identified as the main driver in anxiety and burnout, and 42% had voiced concerns to a supervisor about a workload that was too heavy.
Experiences during pandemic
According to survey results, 83% of respondents had patients with COVID-19 at their work facility, and 56% were responsible for the care of patients with COVID-19 at some time during the pandemic.
“Among those nurses responsible for the care of patients with COVID-19, 59% responded that the patient(s) they cared for had died following diagnosed or suspected COVID-19.
Few respondents (4%) reported having been diagnosed with COVID-19 or having a suspected case of COVID-19,” the researchers said.
Reference:
ANNA Study: Nephrology Nurses Report High Levels of Mental, Physical Stress; Immediate Action Needed. www.annanurse.org/112921-study-nephrology-nurses-report-high-levels-mental-physical-stress-immediate-action-needed. Published Nov. 29, 2021. Accessed Dec. 23, 2021.
Perspective
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Sheila Deziel, MSN, RN, CNN, FNKF
This survey by Montoya and colleagues was conducted from July 24 to Aug. 17, 2020, just after the initial surge of COVID-19.
Eighteen months later, the stress due to the virus is still present and raises concern as to how nephrology nurses can provide care in this environment.
The authors stressed that workload was the main driver of anxiety as reported in the survey, and the surging of COVID-19 may have exacerbated those demands.
More than half of the respondents reported working more than 40 hours per week, with early morning and late evening hours. While the survey did not ask about length of the workday, many hemodialysis nurses have shifts of 12 to14 hours.
In the survey, 62% reported feeling burned out and 47% felt that the work was hardening their attitude about patient care.
Nephrology nurses work in a unique clinical practice environment and develop close bonds with their patients. So, it was not surprising that 38% said in the survey they worry that mistakes may happen on their shift; 27% said they were concerned they may have missed a change in the patient’s condition due to the workload.
An interesting finding in the survey was nurses younger than 65 years of age reported the highest amount of burnout. Of the 393 respondents, 45 were older than 65 years of age. Nurses younger than 65 years old felt burnout twice as much as those older than 65 years old.
A contributing factor not reported may be that at the height of the pandemic, many schools were closed, forcing nurses with school-aged children to seek help to care for their children. Of note is that the nurses older than 65 years of age reported good to excellent physical health more than nurses younger than 65 years of age.
Sadly, 26% of the nephrology nurses reported that if the stress from the workload continues, it will cause them to seek another job – maybe outside the nursing profession. That’s news we can’t afford to hear.
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