Strategies for Improving Nurses' Emotional Health: A Research Proposal

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of strategies for improving nurses' emotional health, addressing the critical role nurses play in healthcare and the emotional challenges they face. It explores the impact of poor working conditions, communication demands, and workload on nurses' wellbeing, emphasizing the link between emotional exhaustion and the provision of quality care. The report delves into the concept of compassionate care, highlighting its importance while acknowledging the emotional toll it takes on nurses. It examines the conceptual framework, literature review, and research questions to understand the factors affecting nurses' emotional health. The study proposes strategies for managing these challenges, including addressing work-related stress, fostering emotional resilience, and promoting positive interventions. The report highlights the need for further research to develop effective interventions, and provides insights into the importance of nurses' emotional health for patient outcomes and overall healthcare quality. The report also discusses the impact of emotional labor, occupational stress, and the need for nurses to find appropriate avenues to effectively handle stress.

Running head: IMPROVING NURSES’ EMOTIONAL HEALTH
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Strategies for Improving Nurses’ Emotional Health
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IMPROVING NURSES’ EMOTIONAL HEALTH
Strategies for Improving Nurses’ Emotional Health
Background to the problem
Nurses play a vital role in the healthcare system. The emotional health of nurses is
fundamental in the provision of quality healthcare. However, the challenge of emotional
exhaustion always presents itself during nurses care. Even though compassionate care
strengthens the patient's progression from disease and medical conditions, it can also be very
emotionally demanding to the nurses in question (Arnold & Baker, 2018). Emotional labor may
be very exhausting, especially for nurses who have not undertaken extensive experience in
nursing. There is a distinct relationship between emotional exhaustion and emotional energy. In
essence, compassionate care is defined as a deep awareness of the suffering of any other person
with the ultimate desire of reliving it. Health workers, such as nurses, engage in compassionate
care as a therapeutic process in the management of complications of day to day life within and
among their patients. The absence of compassionate care is linked to poor client satisfaction and
progression of medical conditions (Tomar, 2016).
Hospitals that do not provide compassionate care through their nurses resulted in poor
client satisfaction and increased complaints among them. Healthcare workers who are considered
to be compassionate can gain more trust from the patient's under them (Warner, 2010).
However, the nurse's health is put at risk due to the associated emotional weight associated with
their actions. It is thus crucial for nurses to identify appropriate strategies to improve their
emotional health and deal with the many challenges they face on a day to day basis (Hurley,
Hutchinson & Kozlowski, 2018). The purpose of this paper is thus to present a proposal that will
address the challenges of nurses on a day to day basis regarding their emotional health and the
strategies to deal with the specific problems in question (Crowne et al., 2017; van Dusseldorp,
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IMPROVING NURSES’ EMOTIONAL HEALTH
van Meijel & Derksen, 2011). Appropriate procedures will be developed based on sound
knowledge.
Research questions
The research will delve into answering the following questions:
1. How do poor working conditions affect the emotional health of nurses?
2. Does the constant need for communication between the clients, relatives,
and significant others affect the emotional health of nurses?
3. Do workload and work pressure affect the emotional health of nurses?
4. What are the strategies useful in the management of the emotional health
of nurses?
The relevance of the proposal
The proposal is relevant in that it will address the challenges that nurses face in their day
to day activities. The problems that the nurses face are many and include both the emotional
workload and those associated with the compassionate care of the patients under them. Nurses
are faced with diverse challenges which hinder them in providing quality nursing care to their
patients. In the case that nurses offer care that does not meet the needs of their patients, the
likelihood of complications increases. In this accord, the purpose of this research will be to
bridge the gap that is presented when quality nursing care by nurses is affected by diverse factors
outside their control. The purpose of this research will thus be to find appropriate strategies to
deal with the emotional health of nurses.
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Demanding
communication between
the patient and relatives.
Emergency cases, high
workload,
understaffing and the
lack of positive
feedback from senior
nursing staff
Poor working
relations between
nurses and doctors
The emotional
health of nurses.
IMPROVING NURSES’ EMOTIONAL HEALTH
Conceptual framework
As displayed above in the conceptual framework, the emotional health of nurses is
affected by a variety of interrelated factors which include the emergency cases that present
themselves within the hospital environments, the many instances of understaffing and the lack of
support from the senior nursing staff. However, even though emotional health of nurses is
affected by this factors, it is also affected by constant need and demand from the relatives and
family members to communicate the progress of the client’s care and wellbeing to them. These
regular needs change the overall psychiatric and emotional health of nurses and in turn, have a
deplorable effect to the nurses in question. The emotional health of nurses is depended on this
and other environmental factors.
Independent variables Dependent variables
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IMPROVING NURSES’ EMOTIONAL HEALTH
Literature review
The emotional health of nurses is fundamental in the provision of high-quality nursing
care. Health has been defined as a complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not just
the absence of disease or infirmity. In this regard, emotional health falls into the bracket of
health. In the absence of psychological health, nurses can be considered not to be healthy at all
(McMahon et al., 2016). This means that the health of nurses is not a factor of health. Emotional
health is the ability to be positive and able to cope with the many ups and downs that present
themselves in life. Emotional distress creates an avenue in which one is susceptible to
contracting infections of diverse nature, including viral nature (Khamisa, Oldenburg, Peltzer &
Ilic, 2015).
In essence, compassion has been defined in different avenues but mostly as the presence
of deep awareness of the suffering of another person and the associated desire that exists to relive
this suffering. Nurses play a fundamental role in dealing with and solving an issue related to the
pain of individuals under them. Compassionate care has been identified to be very useful in
solving the problems and issues that face many individuals and healthcare professionals and
generally acts as a therapeutic modality (Ali et al., 2017).
The ratings of clinical competence by patients are based on the standard power,
knowledge, and skills that the nurses in question hold. The quality of interpersonal relationships
also makes a substantial contribution to the many judgments and the overall satisfaction that
individuals have concerning their healthcare experiences. The existence of an uncaring attitude
from the staff is generally one of the most frequent causes for complaints from the patients and
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also from their families concerning the quality of care. Conversely, the relatives and family
members fail to regard the healthcare of the nurses (Mohamadirizi & Dalvi, 2019).
The presence of an uncaring attitude is based on being one of the reasons why there is a
poor prognosis in patient conditions. The prognosis along the continuum of health for patients is
based on their ability to hold on to proper treatment mechanisms. Treatment is thus based on the
strength of the patient to move from the period of sickness to that of health. The quality of the
essential interpersonal relationships makes very strong contribution to the particular judgments
and the overal satisfaction with the healthcare experiences in question (Cook et al., 2018).
The lack of care and compassion in healthcare settings has dire consequences. The recent
investigations that were performed on the failures of hospital care especially in places like the
UK show that a lack of compassion and also the lack of respect from staff contributes immensely
to the neglect and suffering of the patients in question. The critical role of nurses in emphasizing
compassion has been stressed in many avenues. The compassionate nurses have been found to
have more patients that they take care of and they also tend to be more compliant and to
experience less pain and anxiety and also have a better prognosis in terms of patient outcomes
(Cook et al., 2018).
Moreover, the empathic interactions with service users can have the ability to engender
feelings of personal accomplishment and have the potential to build emotional resilience among
the nurses and patients in question. Working in healthcare can also be both rewarding and
satisfying but can also be stressful. The stress and constant need to offer services that meet the
needs of the patients affect the overall success rate of the families in question. Attempts by
nurses to distance themselves emotionally from stigma as a form of emotional depletion is
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generally a key feature of burnout. Nurses find themselves in intense emotional labor (Cook et
al., 2018).
Emotional labor is a term that generally speaks of the emotional anguish that nurses go
through in their lives. Passionate labor general refers to the extraordinary effort that is put forth
by nurses and other health care professionals regarding the specific emotions that should be
displayed in particular instances. The jobs that require emotional labour such as nursing have a
variety of features such as the intensive contact with the public, the specific need to produce
emotional states in other people in general and the particular need to display implicit or even
explicit rules with regard to the type of emotions that are appropriate or inappropriate for the
specific emotional insight (Arnold & Baker, 2018).
Based on the fact that the "appropriate" emotional responses are not likely to be raised
voluntarily, employees who are required to suppress particular emotional reactions for jobs are
more likely to have more problems. The need for emotional labor in many of the activities that
nurses perform means that users have the duty of ensuring that their emotional health is kept in
check. Nurses have the role of providing challenging interpersonal care. The need to provide
challenging interpersonal care under challenging conditions means that nurses have to make sure
that they perform intense activities that meet their needs (Arnold & Baker, 2018).
Additionally, nurses must display rules and follow the laid down objectives. Nurses who
are not well experienced are more likely to react negatively to emotional demands that they face
on a day to day basis. The need for sufficient trading method to meet the emotional need of
nurses and other medical personnel is highly crucial for their overall performance. To inform
positive interventions, it is highly essential for nurses to find appropriate avenues in which they
can effectively handle stress (Arnold & Baker, 2018).
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However, the existence of job resources is a factor that is intrinsic to individuals and their
particular environments. This model has been supported by many other sources in which staff
who had fewer resources had a higher risk of burnout from the different demands of workload
that they had.
Active coping strategies are also needed together with the existence of positive
reappraisal and self-control strategies, which are extremely important for the nurses and patients.
Occupational stress among nurses and other medical personnel is recognized universally as one
of the problems that face the health care workers. The levels of high occupational stress within
nursing, in particular, has been noted as one of the many issues that nurses face in their activities.
The national institute for occupational safety that is located within the United States indicates
that nursing has one of the highest levels of emotionally related disorders among other
professionals. The existence of heightened levels of job stress from the nursing has been linked
to poor performance among nurses and also to the decrease in performance among the nurses in
question. The provision of quality care under the states of impaired emotional states means that
nurses are not able to offer quality service and also risk their emotional health in the long-run.
In a study that was performed to ascertain psychophysiological symptoms of stress
among nurses, it was found that about 27% of the participants had experienced psycho
physiological symptom and went forth to consult a doctor because of the signs that they had
experienced during their life and living. It has also been noted on several studies that nurses,
especially those in high-risk areas such as the emergency unit, experienced a tremendous lot of
emotional problems. The emergency nurses in question, have been recognized as one of the
most at risk of developing emotionally related issues due to the crises that surround them. It has
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been shown that medical personnel is generally at risk of developing emotional problems during
the activities with various patients (Arnold & Baker, 2018).
The many stressors that pose a danger to emergency nurses include factors such as the
staggering number of patients present at any single time, the rapid and unexpected changes in the
state of the patients in question. Additionally, violence among the patients and physical or verbal
abuse pose a risk to the state of the patients in medical facilities. It is worth noting that many of
the people are capable of holding on to emotional stress for short periods, but the existence of
chronic and progressive stress has harmful effects to the health and wellbeing of the people
involved. Thus the cessations of the stressors, such as is the case for nurses proves to be effective
in dealing with the instances of the stress from time to time. However, it proves difficult for
nurses to cease the stressors that present themselves on a day to day basis (Arnold & Baker,
2018).
Critical issues that affect the emotional health of nurses and moving personnel also
include the existence of burnout. Burnout has the potential of causing harmful effects to the
nurses in question at the end of the day. The ability to use appropriate stress management
strategies significantly promotes the health of the nurses and helps in dealing with the
progressive stressors that present themselves on a day to day basis. The approach developed
have not been very effective in getting rid of emotional problems among nurses, and thus, further
research is needed on the topic (Arnold & Baker, 2018).
Summary of the literature review
The emotional health of nurses is a crucial factor in offering nursing care that meets the
needs of the people. The absence of patient-centered care, which includes compassion, is linked
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to poor nurse emotional health. To improve the emotional health of nurses, appropriate strategies
have to be generated to meet the specific needs of nurses. The plans that have been developed
have not adequately dealt with the needs of the nurses in terms of sorting out their emotional
problems. Further research is needed on the topic to generate appropriate patient-centered
strategies.
Research design and methodology
The research will employ a cross-sectional and descriptive approach in trying to identify
the challenges that face the nurse's emotional health. Nurses will fill questionnaires about their
psychological health.
Instruments
Interviews and questionnaires will be used as the study method.
Data collection methods
Data will be collected using systematic random sampling to be objective. Only
participants who consent to participate in the study will be selected. Those who do not agree with
the survey will not be chosen.
Data analysis and presentation
Data will be analyzed through the use of SPSS version 20; data will then be presented
through the use of tables, pie charts, bars, and graphs.
Ethical Considerations
Confidentiality and data security
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Data will be stored in well-protected areas; only the researcher and research assistants
will have access to the data and information in question. The collection of information will not
be associated with any harm to the researcher or the nurses in question since data will only be
collected from experienced personnel.
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Only nurses with three years of working experience will take part in the study. Student
nurses will be excluded from the research and other medical personnel.
Conclusion
The study will be limited by diverse factors, including the time frame within which the
information will be collected. The study will occur over two weeks. Additionally, only five
hospitals will take part in the study; this brings about the likelihood that the data will not be
standardized as a minimal number of medical facilities will be included. The study will provide
significant outputs that will lead to the improvement of patient care at the end of the day. The
availability of evidence-based findings will lead to the development of strategies that will be
effective in dealing with the emotional health of nurses. The proposed study will look forward to
identifying the causes and solutions to the problems associated with the emotional health of
nurses.
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