Clinical Project: Strategies for Better Emotional Health for Nurses

This project delves into the critical issue of emotional health and job satisfaction among nurses. It examines the stressful conditions nurses face, including workload, compassion fatigue, and workplace dynamics. The project explores the relevance of this topic, highlighting the impact of emotional d...Read More

Running head: STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EMOTIONAL HEALTH 1
Strategies for better emotional health
Student’s name
Institution affiliation

STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EMOTIONAL HEALTH 2
Strategies for better emotional health
Introduction
Job satisfaction is a significant determinant of how employees perform their tasks. Most
professionals in nursing report experiencing work-related stress while in their working
environment. Most nurses undergo stressful conditions which impacts their lives negatively. The
stressful situations lead increases absence at work and even increases the rate of dissatisfaction at
the workplace. The stressful situations also lead to psycho-spiritual distress and increased
emotional turmoil leading to increased compassion fatigue. The following steps will be followed
to provide a good assessment: the body which will explain about the issue of job satisfaction in
nursing profession, then a conclusion which will summarize the entire paper including the
provision of recommendations.
Relevance of this topic
Nurses are professionals who undergo different stressful conditions leading to psycho-
spiritual distress and increased emotional turmoil which in turn causes increased compassion
fatigue. For instance, those who work in the department dealing with emergencies may become
stressed because they deal with people affected by mental health injuries and traumatic health
injuries. These encounters endanger the wellbeing of nurses because mental health issues
sometimes concern them. The nurses’ welfare is an issue which has raised different matters
because it affects their job satisfaction, and they sometimes end up becoming patients.

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Sometimes nurses tend to make errors when treating patients due to compassion fatigue while
others leave their job to avoid stress.
Due to the issue of job satisfaction in nursing, most of them have left their jobs while
others fear to become nurses leading to a shortage of nurses globally. Many hospitals would like
to achieve quality continually, but this requires a healthy workforce so that better results can be
obtained. Studying this topic is therefore relevant because it will create awareness on the
stressful conditions that nurses go through in their workplace. It is evident that some of them
undergo stressful situations while trying to help patients and some due to bullying by the senior
nursing staff (Gu et al., 2015). According to Gu et al. (2015), when such cases exist in the
hospitals, quality care for the patients and the well-being of nurses will be compromised. It is
therefore essential to study job satisfaction in nursing to help in shedding more light on the issue
and creating recommendations on how to solve these issues.
Reasons for choosing this topic
Some hospital environments contribute to dissatisfaction in the job, and this contributes
to poor treatment of patients. Even in areas like business, it is proven that job satisfaction among
workers improves productivity and retention rates. Shortage of nurses has become more
prominent while the predictions deteriorate (Harris and Griffin, 2015). It has become more
prolific and important to study why nurses quit their jobs. It is also essential to understand why
dissatisfaction has increased among them leading to increased turnover. If the turnover rate
becomes more than the rate of replacements, then it means that there will be no nurses who will
take care of the hospitalized patients for generations to come. It is vital to understand the
connection between patient outcomes and nurses’ satisfaction.

STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EMOTIONAL HEALTH 4
Job satisfaction determines how human resources deliver their services in an
organization. The reasons for studying this topic is therefore to assess the level of satisfaction
among nurses and to have an understanding of what nurses undergo through in their working
environment. Another reason for studying this topic is to allow the reader to understand the
problems that nurses endure through in an attempt to deliver services to patients. The issue is
vital because it will help in supporting research done by other scholars and emphasis on the
things to be done to increase contentment among nurses. Human resources are the most
important in enhancing the success of an organization. The study is, therefore, essential because
it will create an understanding of what healthcare officials need to do to solve this issue (Cleary
et al., 2013). There are many reasons for studying this topic, but it is the best because it addresses
a problem which is critical since it affects the wellbeing of both nurses and patients. Dissatisfied
nurses will not be able to deliver quality services meaning that patients are the ones who suffer
the consequences.
Gaps that motivated the study
There are many gaps which exist in healthcare ranging from inadequate health care and
medical errors. It is, therefore, necessary to identify ways primary care can be improved and
medical errors reduced. While scanning the medical environment, it is evident that families and
patients should be engaged in measuring the outcomes of treatment to assess whether they are
satisfied and the areas which requires improvements (Dobie et al., 2016). The engagement can
assist in measuring the quality of services given by nurses, and this will allow the management to
identify the best practices in a bid to improve treatment. Some nurses’ ted to experience
difficulties while communicating with patients and this can also compromise the quality of care

STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EMOTIONAL HEALTH 5
given to patients. It means that translators would be appropriate to help in the proper treatment of
patients. Patients will also expect to get the best form of treatment when they visit the healthcare
centers, but sometimes they end up getting the worse (Mashego et al., 2016). It means that a gap
exists between patients and nurses because the expectations are not satisfied.
Nurses are the largest health care providers meaning that most patients depend on them
for the provision of medical services. But they do not get what they require because most of the
nurses are dissatisfied with their working conditions leading to poor treatment of patients. Nurses
also have a problem because they tend to be given jobs that they are not supposed to do meaning
that they are mostly underused or overworked. They are not given an opportunity to supervise,
make free choices or think critically meaning that they do not have a chance to exercise their
skills. Additionally, current research has focused on studying job satisfaction like a unitary
hypothesis, but more studies should be carried out to give an understanding of how job
components and characteristics relate.
Main objective
The primary objective of this project is to determine the emotional constraints that nurses
undergo through due to the work they undertake. The study focusses on studying the strategies
which can be used to improve the emotional health of nurses which will assist in increasing the
quality of care given to patients. Scholars suggest that mental health affects how people behave,
feel and think in their lives. It even affects how people overcome challenges, recover from
hardships or setbacks in life and cope with stressful factors. Nurses undergo different stressful
conditions which affect their mental wellness meaning that the care is given to patients and their
relationship with others is compromised.

STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EMOTIONAL HEALTH 6
The study thus focusses on assessing how nurses interact in their environment and the
factors which create dissatisfaction among them. As discussed in this paper, most nurses show
high levels of discontentment in their environment due to exposure to different stressful
conditions such as being overworked. Some of them have to take care of too many patients at a
time which creates heavy workload leading to inadequate treatment of patients. They become so
fatigued that they cannot be able to deliver the right services to their patients. Another focus of
this project is to assess the requirements which should be fulfilled to ensure that nurses interact
better with their environment and become more contented in the duties they perform. The
project, therefore, aims at creating the best strategies that can be used to improve the emotional
health of nurses and improve their job satisfaction.
Achievements
At the end of this project, many things will be achieved. For instance, it will create
awareness about the issues facing the nursing profession and the reasons why there might be a
shortage of nurses in the coming decades. The study will also provide education on why it is
important to engage patients together with their parents in decision making and implementation
of better care strategies. The will also create awareness on how stressful environment in nursing
impacts on the performance, productivity and safety of patients. The use of theoretical
explanation in this paper will also provide a better understanding of the issue in focus by
providing a better understanding of the link between job satisfaction and the results of a job
done.
The study will also be essential because it will give room for more research and also give
an analysis of what others have done in this field to shed more light on the issue of job

STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EMOTIONAL HEALTH 7
satisfaction among nurses. The paper will also help in understanding the nursing environment
and why it possesses a significant threat to the wellness of nurses together with patients. It will
also assist in demonstrating an understanding of how nurses can be involved in management to
use their skills in a better way hence improving their satisfaction. Through the study of this topic,
I will achieve a lot and the information will be helpful to nurses, management and those willing
to become nurses.
Benefits
Learning about what compromises the emotional health of nurses is beneficial in different
ways. Learning this skill will allow the concerned parties such as the nurse leaders to be aware of
what nurses undergo through and the reasons why there is a high turnover rate in the nursing
profession. With such an understanding, the nurse leader can develop ways of motivating nurses
and increasing their self-esteem so that the general job satisfaction can I improve. The study of
job satisfaction in nursing can help in the generation of better strategies which can be used to
prevent or reduce stress among nurses. Nurses can also learn on ways which they can reduce
stress such as working as a team to reduce the workload subjected to them (Jordan,
Khubchandani, and Wiblishauser, 2016). Through the study of this topic, more people will be
aware of the things which may arise when nurses fail to receive the right treatment. Patients may
suffer from poor treatment due to dissatisfaction and emotional problems among nurses.
The study will also give an understanding of the things which face nurses and how they
can be prevented for a better working environment. For instance, educating nurses on how to
manage stress can help to effectively reduce stress among them and assist them in coping with
stressful conditions in their environment (Husebø, O'Regan, and Nestel, 2015). Managers can

STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EMOTIONAL HEALTH 8
also implement better strategies to deal with stress by encouraging teamwork and involving
nurses in making decisions for the company. The skills attained through this study are therefore
essential because they can help in improvement of health care because they will create a better
understanding of job satisfaction and increase the appreciation of human resources.
Issues that motivated this study
When choosing my career as a nurse, I was so passionate about it and always admired to
assist people who were in need. But there are so many conditions in this field that cause stress
leading to dissatisfaction and emotional problems (Hayes, Douglas, and Bonner, 2015). I have
encountered several issues in my working environment that motivated me to research this skill.
For instance, the point of working seven days per week makes me always feel tired, and I have
no time to rest and perform other extra curriculum activities. Working every day leads to
increased workload because I have to take care of many patients throughout the week which
makes me feel stressed.
I have also experienced other problems such as being undervalued by other major staff,
conflicting with physicians, emotional and physical constraints, and lack of cooperation with co-
nurses. These problems cause a lot of stress and make me sometimes feel like quitting my career
due to their complexity. These factors made me want to know if many people in my professional
experience similar problems in their working environment. They, therefore, acted as a significant
motivator because I needed to understand the effects of such issues and how they could be
prevented in different contexts.
Literature findings to support the advantages of learning this skill

STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EMOTIONAL HEALTH 9
According to Lu, Zhao, and While (2019) job satisfaction has raised many issues among
nurses because they are the ones responsible for the provision of quality healthcare. Lu, Zhao,
and While (2019) suggest that occupational stress can lead to job dissatisfaction meaning that
pressure should be eliminated to reduce the chances of poor health among nurses. It is because it
affects organizational commitment, job efforts, performance, and leadership. According to Lu,
Barriball, Zhang, and While (2012) there is also increased burnout in nursing which is caused by
reduced satisfaction among nurses. It is because nurses have to cope with a lot of stress in the
workplace which makes some of them to leave their profession prematurely. Olatunde and
Odusanya, (2015) indicate that most nurses experience psychological distress in their jobs which
affects their satisfaction and the outputs delivered. Hayes, Douglas, and Bonner (2015) further
state that job characteristic and how nurses interact in the workplace affect job satisfaction.
According to research done by different scholars, stress among nurses is a factor which
affects their satisfaction. They emphasize on research in nursing to determine how stress in the
workplace and interaction between co-workers can affect the performance of nurses (Griffiths,
Royse, and Walker, 2018). They, therefore, see nursing as a field which requires a lot of research
and studying the area as a beneficial thing because it will help in gaining more knowledge about
the issue. These findings also show that discontentment among nurses can cause poor results in
care delivery and therefore they support the advantages of learning emotional health among
nurses.
Achievements in learning
In my learning, I have achieved so many things that are helpful and beneficial in the
study. I have been able to identify the issues which lead to decreased job satisfaction among

STRATEGIES FOR BETTER EMOTIONAL HEALTH 10
nurses and the problems which affect the emotions of nurses. According to this paper, nurses
undergo different issues such as taking care of those involved in tragic accidents, and this affects
their mental health. I have also provided enough data on why nurses turnover have increased and
its implications to the wellbeing of patients (Tajvar et al., 2015). In reference to this paper, many
nurses quit their jobs due to stress and lack of contentment in their careers. Some managers do
not allow them to show their full potential and they sometimes end up overworking them.
I have also illustrated that lack of satisfaction among nurses may lead to inadequate care
provision to the patients. They are the ones who take care of patients, but when they are stressed,
they might end up administering the wrong medication to patients or even deliver poor services.
In the learning I have also gained knowledge that job satisfaction is a worldwide problem which
requires attention or else, the number of nurses will continue declining hence reducing the
quality of care to patients (Lin et al., 2014). In my learning, I have even discovered nurses’ face
also face problems among themselves due to poor communication with their partners, and
physicians sometimes undermine them.
Implications of the learning
The study implies that nurses undergo a lot of workplace stress which leads to an increase
in voluntary turnover. Some scholars argue that nurses are professionals who experience a lot of
pressure while performing their daily duties. These stressing conditions may include being
underestimated by the seniors, meeting aggressive patients, and lack of cooperation between
nurses. All these issues lead to dissatisfaction and eventually leads to increased job turnover
implying that there might be a shortage within some coming years which will affect hospitals
and also individuals (Nowrouzi et al., 2015). Some of the people who are still working as nurses

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would also suggest that they may leave their profession to avoid getting affected by mental
illnesses or overworking.
The study has also proven that job satisfaction is a significant determinant of the quality
of services given to patients. Some nurses have indicated that they have to work every day which
makes them feel tired meaning that they sometimes deliver wrong medication due to fatigue. The
study also shows that there is poor communication between nurses and doctors which reduces the
chances of providing quality services to patients (Galletta et al., 2016). Healthcare needs can also
be a significant cause of stress among nurses; for instance, if there are many patients, the
workload will increase meaning that the rate of the workload will increase. The study implies
that the rate of turnover may increase leading to a decrease in staff members. The nurses who are
left will have to take care of the patients leading to fatigue (Al‐Hamdan, Manojlovich, and
Tanima, 2017). The study, therefore, shows how stress can affect workers and the effects of job
satisfaction in healthcare.
Conclusion
The project has given relevant information in the field of nursing can help in the
implementation of better policies to improve the healthcare system. In this study, I have learned
that nurses face many challenges in an attempt to provide health services to patients leading to
stressful conditions among them. According to this paper, most nurses quit their jobs, and others
have mental health problems due to the challenges they go through. I have achieved all the
objectives of the study, and I have clearly shown how nurses strive to provide services in an
environment which is stressful and tiresome. In my opinion, I think that nurses should be treated

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well and communication should be enhanced in the healthcare departments which will reduce the
workloads and hence reduce stress among them.
Recommendations
The nurse leaders should encourage cooperation between nurses by motivating them and
increasing their esteem. Then the administrative authority in the hospitals should enhance a
balanced ratio of patients to nurses to reduce workload hence reducing stress (Hutchinson &
Jackson, 2013). On the other hand, senior healthcare nurse dealing with mental problems should
guide nurses on how to manage stress in their environment. With such changes, the healthcare
system can become more advanced, and nurses will become more satisfied with their work hence
improving the quality of service given to patients.

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