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Nursing is a demanding job mentally, physically and emotionally. Often, people deal with nurses during the most challenging times in their lives, sometimes making them mean, aggressive and uncaring to the nurse trying to help. Nursing and mental health are frequent topics among nurses who understand the dangers of burnout and mental fatigue. The health care system must acknowledge the importance of mental health in nursing so these frontline workers can stay safe and work for as long as they wish.
Nursing and Mental Health: The Revealing Statistics
In early 2023, McKinsey and Company surveyed more than 7,000 nurses across the United States. Here are some of the insights from the survey:
- A staff shortage began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when nurses were put under immense pressure, causing many to leave the profession. Nursing turnover has declined since the height of the pandemic but is still above pre-pandemic levels.
- Intent to leave was high for nurses. Around 41% of nurses who provide direct care to patients disclosed an intent to leave. In comparison, nurses without direct patient roles had a slightly lower intent to leave at 30%.
- Nurses with less than 10 years of working experience cited insufficient staffing as a significant reason for their intent to leave. This is an important group to watch, as this is the group of nurses who must staff facilities for the next 30-40 years.
- 56% of nurses reported burnout, citing symptoms such as emotional exhaustion.
- 64% of nurses in the survey said they were very stressed because of their jobs.
- The survey revealed nurses reported lower numbers for feeling empowered, grateful and confident.
- The reasons for burnout cited were inadequate staffing, poor patient-to-nurse ratios, leadership problems and too much administrative work.
- Interestingly, less-tenured nurses reported being less satisfied with their role and reported higher levels of burnout and higher intent to leave.
The Challenges
The mental health of nurses is essential. A nurse needs to be in a good mental health space to give proper care to their patients and have the capacity to continue in the role. Some of the challenges and mental health triggers that stem from this profession are:
- Stress. Nurses work in a high-stress environment. Often, their actions could put a patient in danger or save their lives. Nurses must navigate this high-pressure environment to maintain calm and make the best decisions. They also need to multitask and often can’t stop to process their feelings if something emotionally heavy occurs. Instead, they’re expected to move on with their shift. Lastly, nurses experience stress because they expose themselves to danger at work, whether it be to contagious diseases, violent people or other dangerous situations.
- Burnout. Nurses have a high risk of burnout due to working a demanding job, being exposed to extended stress, having long hours and working in understaffed facilities. A 2022 study found approximately 65.6% of nurses report experiencing high levels of job burnout.
- Compassion fatigue. Nurses come to know most of their patients personally and often have to hear some sad stories. However, over time, this can lead to compassion fatigue, where the nurse feels less and less empathetic to patients. Compassion fatigue is a person’s protective response to help shelter themselves from the emotional exhaustion they’re constantly feeling.
- PTSD. Nurses are at a high risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the high-stress, shocking and upsetting scenarios they may witness at work. If left untreated, PTSD can lead to negative consequences, such as deteriorating mental health, sleep issues, social isolation and outbursts.
- Depression. Similar to the heightened risk of PTSD, constant exposure to upsetting situations at work can lead a nurse to develop depression. This is particularly challenging because the depression trigger is work, so the nurse is constantly reexposed to the factor that’s making their depression worse.
- Anxiety disorders. The nursing workload is anxiety-inducing with its fast-paced nature and high stakes for every decision. Nurses with existing anxiety disorders may find their work triggering and hard to cope with.
Patient Care Impact
When nurses are struggling with mental health conditions, their ability to offer optimal, quality care to their patients is compromised. Many nurses can come across as mean or insensitive, which is problematic since empathy is a crucial part of a nurse’s job.
A nurse who’s emotionally, mentally and physically exhausted may be at higher risk of making a mistake at work. While everyone makes mistakes sometimes, in a health care environment, a mistake can put a patient’s life in danger.
The Importance of Seeking Support
The McKinsey survey found that despite increasing levels of burnout and mental health risks, approximately 66% of nurses aren’t currently receiving mental health treatment. Some of the reasons nurses said they haven’t sought help included:
- 29% said they didn’t have the time.
- 23% believed they could handle their mental health issues independently.
- 10% worried about the financial burden of mental health treatment.
- 56% of respondents said they think there’s a stigma attached to mental health struggles.
These are all common barriers to mental health treatment, but they must be overcome. Mental health conditions like burnout, anxiety and depression don’t simply resolve themselves and go away one day. There needs to be an effort made to diagnose, treat and cope with the condition via therapy and medication.
Nurses who avoid seeking help may be at risk of worsening mental health, physical health consequences and problems in their personal lives. Eventually, they might be brought to a boiling point where they leave the profession because they can’t take it anymore.
Whether you’re a nurse, know a nurse or work with nurses, advocating for nurse mental health awareness is critical. As one expert stated, “Nurses are accustomed to setting aside their own needs and fears to care for people and take on the burdens and stresses of families and communities.”
Too many nurses are not seeking the help they need. Talking openly about the mental health risks of nursing and the importance of treatment can help people finally feel comfortable confronting their problems.
FHE Health Is a Call Away
Professional treatment can help you stay happy, fulfilled and healthy in the nursing profession. You can’t continue to ignore your growing mental health problems.
If you’re ready for answers to your problems, find out how FHE Health can help. Our compassionate counselors are available to take your call now.
