Sustainability is essential in the nursing field. After all, it’s a tough job, and that’s why burnout is such an unfortunate side effect. To become a nurse leader, you must go through a successful nursing career and navigate these stresses for years.
That means that you have firsthand knowledge and experience regarding how to overcome such stresses and avoid burnout. Now, it’s your responsibility to impart your wisdom and teach your staff to develop healthy habits and coping mechanisms.
Doing so can prevent burnout. Follow along as we explore how nurse leaders model sustainable leadership through burnout prevention.
Exhibiting Healthy Professional Strengths as a Nurse Leader
Nurse leaders have many professional responsibilities, some of which aren’t listed in their job descriptions. For example, many new nurses look to nurse leaders for guidance on how to thrive in the workplace. Nursing can be stressful, and learning how to deal with that comes with experience.
Burnout is common among nurses. After all, nurses work long hours and often deal with harsh realities that can take an emotional toll. Strong nurse leaders display the blueprint to overcome and avoid burnout through their actions, such as:
1. Routine Check-Ins
Checking in with your staff is a big part of being a nurse leader. The more you speak to them, the more everyone can understand each other. Not only can you see how they’re doing, but they will also see how you hold up to the stress and workload.
It’s important to ask others how they’re doing and see if anyone has concerns. Some people hesitate to speak up when they feel stressed and exhausted. Holding that in can easily lead to burnout and leave nurses feeling unheard.
Putting yourself out there and acknowledging your staff can help them feel comfortable speaking up. It can benefit leaders as much as new nurses fresh out of college. Even the quickest conversation can make both parties feel relaxed and take a breather.
2. Nurture a Positive Environment
Nursing is stressful enough without dealing with negativity behind the scenes. Interacting with your peers should provide a moment of peace from the stress of daily life at work. Negativity amongst coworkers can ruin the atmosphere and make people burn out quickly.
Nurse leaders must weed out the negativity and ensure the workplace is positive, at least amongst the staff. This starts with setting a great example of how to deal with work-related stress healthily. Workplaces full of gossip, feuds, and contentious conversations can leave everyone feeling burned out.
The more you nurture a positive environment, the more likely everyone else is to stay positive. A positive environment can help everyone relax while working with patients. Otherwise, there is no time to take a break from the stress that comes with nursing.
3. Provide Breathing Room
Nurses work long hours and sometimes have tough schedules. As a leader, you have the chance to create a schedule that benefits everyone and prevents burnout. Think about your early days as a nurse each time you create a schedule.
Providing flexibility can make people feel much more comfortable. Overworked nurses simply cannot deliver the best possible performance. Burnout doesn’t benefit anyone, and that includes the patients who rely on nurses to help them.
You must also be willing to give people vacation time within reason. Provide a little breathing room to ensure people don’t feel like going to work is a punishment.
4. Offer compassion
Nobody wants to be told to toughen up when they feel burned out or voice their grievances. Nursing is a compassionate profession, and nurses must extend that compassion to one another. Nurse leaders can set this precedent by offering compassion to their nursing staff.
Provide an ear to listen to and a shoulder to lean on when others are stressed. Nursing often entails dealing with harsh realities regarding a patient’s health. This can take a toll on nurses, no matter how much experience they have.
If you’re there to support your nursing staff, they will be there to help their fellow nurses. Setting this precedent ensures an understanding and compassionate environment.
5. Evenly Divide the Workload
Nursing is a group effort as nurses must juggle many responsibilities throughout the day. Delegation is essential to ensuring that too many responsibilities don’t fall on one person. Otherwise, one person may feel overwhelmed and burned out, while others aren’t dealing with nearly as much.
It’s up to nurse leaders to ensure everyone understands that they are part of a team. That way, people can pick up the slack for others when they recognise the signs of burnout.
Nurse leaders must advocate for their staff members and recognise when they’re overwhelmed. This can make them feel seen and encourage others to lighten their load. Teach yourself to recognise the signs of burnout and intervene when you see them amongst your staff.
Nurse Leaders Pass Positive Leadership Skills Down
Teaching others to pick up healthy workplace habits and leadership skills is just as important as guiding them throughout the work week. Keep in mind that many young nurses may feel overwhelmed while adjusting to the professional environment. By exhibiting leadership skills, offering compassion, and providing flexibility, you can prevent burnout and enhance the well-being of your nursing staff.
