Nursing Case Study Critical Discussion 2022

Running head: NURSING CASE STUDY: CRITICAL DISCUSSION
NURSING CASE STUDY: CRITICAL CASE DISCUSSION
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

NURSING CASE STUDY: CRITICAL DISCUSSION1
Situation 1
One of the first challenging situations is the new RN’s lack of experience in leading a
team in an understaffed situation and during Sarah’s feelings of burnout and stress. According to
Fong (2016), lack of mitigation of burnout and stress across nurses can contribute to an inability
to deliver effective interventions, inability to cope with challenging situations and resultant
increased risk of medical errors and fatal patient outcomes. These effects are more pronounced in
new RNs who lack experience and adequate support transitioning. The severity of these risks are
further aggravated by environmental challenges like understaffing and high patient influx – as
observed in the case study (Woodhead, Northrop & Edelstein, 2016). Additionally, compassion
fatigue hinders the ability for new nurses to transition effectively – as observed and the inability
of the novice RN to lead the team in Sarah’s absence (Woodhead, Northrop & Edelstein, 2016). I
would definitely feel concerned for my peer Sarah which in turn, would affect my concentration
and functioning as a new RN. Plus, being entrusted with the job of a team leader as a new RN, in
the absence of my experienced peer and an understaffed situation would cause additional
feelings of stress and fatigue in me due to the increased workload. Indeed, it has been evidenced
by Adam (2019), that nursing burnout can contribute to attrition, increased work load and risk of
nursing errors. It is the duty of healthcare organizations to make arrangements for addressing
burnout in nurses as well as maintain sufficient nurse-patient ratios to manage high patient influx
(Adams, Hollingsworth & Osman, 2019). I would thus report Sarah’s condition to my
supervisors and request for another EN or AIN to assist me in team leading. A similar experience
for burnout was encountered by me during my clinical placement as an AIN where a new RN
found it difficult to assist me in an emergency patient situation. The supervisor advised me and
my friend to consult the organization’s referral counseling services. Implementing counseling