Burnout In Nursing Profession

The Love of the Profession and the Stress That Comes With it

Stress was first defined/coined in 1936 by Hans Selye (1955) as “a non-specific deviation from the normal resting state” or “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change.” The mention of “stress” tends to always have a negative connotation, but not necessarily, stress can be beneficial at times. For example, the writing of an essay the night before its due seems to produce the best work for some yet not for most. Unfortunately, for this paper the focus is on the negative implications of stress (Selye, 1955).
Nursing is the most rewarding profession a person can embark upon. Being in the profession for more years than I care to remember, I have seen many changes. Starting my career in nursing as a certified nurse assistant (CNA), most of my years were spent in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). There was no greater satisfaction than

Henderson goes on to explain “burnout as a syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment.” (Henderson, 2015). Burnout may have been one of the leading cause of the staff shortage in my stressful situation, where times I did not want to work because of exhaustion both physically and mentally. Ribeiro et al. (2014) definition of “Burnout syndrome: long-term work stress resulting from the interaction between constant emotional pressure associated with intense interpersonal involvement for long periods of time and personal characteristics”. (Ribeiro et al., 2014). The consequences of chronic stress was the culprit in my case; and I simply ran out of