Nursing Essay: Overwork, Human Dignity, and Common Good in Nursing

This nursing essay explores the critical issues of human dignity and common good within the context of nursing, addressing the impact of overwork and work pressure on healthcare professionals. The author, a nursing student, highlights the psychosocial stressors, burnout, and challenges faced by nurses. The essay emphasizes the importance of recognizing nurses' human dignity alongside that of patients, arguing for reduced work pressure to ensure their well-being and the achievement of the common good. It defines human dignity as an intrinsic value and the common good as conditions that facilitate societal fulfillment. The essay concludes that prioritizing nurses' well-being is essential for quality patient care and societal welfare, referencing studies on healthcare staff well-being, burnout, and overwork. The author aims to finish the degree course by the year 2020 and faces numerous ranges of both physical and mental challenges.

Running head: NURSING
NURSING
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

NURSING 1
Introduction
Stress within the workplace together with the work pressure and overload has been
globally considered as one of the major risk factors for the health and the safety of the workers.
Currently I am studying Nursing degree. I aim to finish my degree course by the year 2020.
Being a health care worker, I face numerous ranges of both physical and mental challenges. Most
of them triggers the psychosocial stressors that affect my person life and the actions of mine
towards my care duties at times. One of the most common issue that I face as a health care giver
or a nurse by profession is the overload f works and the burnout which is a cumulative negative
reaction towards the occupational stressors causing cynicism, exhaustion and exhaustion at the
workplace. The context of human dignity and common good has not been explained in the issues
related to overwork and overload of the nurses. The dignity and the context of common good in
nursing as the intrinsic worker and the human right has received very scanty and explicit
attention (Maruyama, 2017). This has been due to the self-sacrifice, privileging of the dignity of
patient over the nurses in the environments.
Human Dignity
The context of the human dignity lies over the recognition that the human beings tends to
posses an intrinsic value towards their humanity which are worthy of respect due to the existence
of human beings (Hall et al., 2016). The concept of the human dignity furthermore features
within the legal, ethical and the political discourses as the foundational commitment towards the
human status and human values. Human dignity is the fundamental right of each and every
human being. In the issue of discussion, the overworked and work pressure of the nurses and the
health care practioner is the topic which is often being ignored and research on. The topic has not

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yet been recognized that much due to the priority of patient’s human dignity over the nurses and
the nature of the work pattern of the nurses towards sacrificing and taking care of the patients
event at the emergency time or odd tine of their shift. Furthermore, the lack of the nurses and the
proper training of nursing is one of the biggest issue contributing to the long working hours and
the overwork of the medical and the hospital staff towards attaining the patient’s duty.
Within the discussed issue, the context of the human dignity has been thought about. This is due
to the effects of the overload of the work and the work pressure over the medical staff and the
nurses. This includes the psychological stress, mental instability, well being and the health-
related hazards and physical ailment targeting the lack of proper care towards the patients and
the duty. Nurses and the medical professionals just like other human beings has the right towards
the basic inalienable human dignity (Parandeh et al., 2016). Human dignity of the nurses should
be taken in consideration together with the dignity of the patients since nurses are the main care
givers towards the patients and they tale care of the ill patients irrespective of the time
constraints and the environmental issues foregoing their personal life. Over work and pressure of
the medical and the nursing staff thus needs to be reduced for ensuring the restore of the proper
human dignity of them.
The common good
The concept of common good can be defined as the sum of the total of the conditions
related to the society that allow people towards reaching the fulfillment more easily. According
to Kelly et al. (2017) nursing is one of the major contributor towards the health care facilities,
common good identifies the outcomes or the actions that extends beyond the individual gain. The

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health and the benefit of the society or the economy at the large is one of the essential common
good.
Within the context of the overwork and the work pressure of the nurses and the medical
professionals, common good is such a thing which is viewed as being promoted by the nursing.
The issue or the challenges lies in the context that the development of the profession of nursing
as the discrete profession reflects the recognition of the society that supports the constellation of
services by nurses for the common good. Common good has been thought as only the welfare of
the society and the patients admitted in the hospital. There lies very few research targeting the
condition of the nurses towards fulfilling the commitment of common good.
Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded from above Human dignity of the nurses should be taken in
consideration together with the dignity of the patients since nurses are the main care givers
towards the patients and they tale care of the ill patients irrespective of the time constraints and
the environmental issues foregoing their personal life. Furthermore nurses deserved a happy and
stress free life with the right to be safe and well being for the achievement of the common good
of the societal welfare in which they are an essential part.

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Reference
Hall, L. H., Johnson, J., Watt, I., Tsipa, A., & O’Connor, D. B. (2016). Healthcare staff
wellbeing, burnout, and patient safety: a systematic review. PloS one, 11(7), e0159015.
Kelly, M., Wills, J., Jester, R., & Speller, V. (2017). Should nurses be role models for healthy
lifestyles? Results from a modified Delphi study. Journal of advanced nursing, 73(3),
665-678.
Maruyama, T. (2017). Depressive symptoms and overwork among physicians employed at a
university hospital in Japan. J Health Soc Sci, 2(3), 243-56.
Parandeh, A., Khaghanizade, M., Mohammadi, E., & Mokhtari-Nouri, J. (2016). Nurses’ human
dignity in education and practice: An integrated literature review. Iranian journal of
nursing and midwifery research, 21(1), 1.