Nurse Wellbeing During the Pandemic: NurseGrid Survey of 12,000+ Nurses Reveals Self-Care Being Sacrificed
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HealthStream (Nasdaq: HSTM) today announced that its business, NurseGrid, which represents America’s largest network of nurses around its #1-rated app for nurses, released results of its nationwide survey about nurse wellbeing. Over 12,000 nurses reported measures about their wellbeing and related behaviors in the NurseGrid app between September 4–11, 2020. Results suggest that while nurses remain highly committed to providing care for others, they may be sacrificing self-care in the process.
Representing about a third of the hospital-based workforce, nurses are deeply engaged in their work and dedicated to delivering the best possible care to patients. Approximately 80 percent of nurses surveyed reported strong agreement that their work is meaningful to them. Concurrently, however, 85 percent of nurses reported that they were struggling to manage burnout on at least some level.
An increasingly demanding work environment, staff shortages, long work hours, and high patient acuity are contributing to nurses’ workplace stress—which are magnified by the current pandemic. Given this environment, their personal habits of self-care may be particularly consequential for their wellbeing.
“It’s clear that the nation’s nurses are providing patient care in a heroic manner in the face of COVID-19; however, our survey results show that for many nurses, it is coming at a personal cost to them,” said Robert A. Frist, Jr., chief executive officer, HealthStream. “Less than one-fourth of nurses strongly agreed that they have a healthy diet, exercise regularly, have healthy sleep habits, and are able to effectively decompress after work. Improving nurses’ wellbeing and resilience should be a focal point in our national dialogue on supporting the healthcare workforce.”
Results of the Nurse Wellbeing at Risk: A National Survey make one thing clear: the more that nurses participate in self-care behaviors, the more likely that their overall sense of wellbeing will improve. Younger nurses reported relatively fewer self-care behaviors, making them more vulnerable to the symptoms of burnout than their longer-tenured colleagues. In the current environment of COVID-19, this pattern may be particularly enlightening as hospitals work to better mentor, support, and retain their younger nursing staff.
Results of Nurse Wellbeing at Risk: A National Survey are available for download beginning September 28th as a part of the Nurse Wellbeing Week activities at www.nursewellbeingweek.com. Nurse Wellbeing Week, a free virtual conference focused on helping nurses thrive in their careers, is presented by NurseGrid, HealthStream, and Keener.
About HealthStream
HealthStream (Nasdaq: HSTM) is dedicated to improving patient outcomes through the development of healthcare organizations’ greatest asset: their people. Our unified suite of solutions is contracted by healthcare organizations across the U.S. for workforce development, training & learning management, talent management, credentialing, privileging, provider enrollment, performance assessment, and managing simulation-based education programs. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, HealthStream has additional offices in Jericho, New York; Boulder; Colorado; Denver, Colorado; San Diego, California; Chicago, Illinois; and Portland, Oregon. For more information, visit http://www.healthstream.com or call 800-521-0574.
About NurseGrid
NurseGrid, a business owned by HealthStream (Nasdaq: HSTM), is founded on the belief that those who do the most important work deserve the best technology. We develop solutions to enhance the nursing environment that positively impacts patients and lower healthcare costs. NurseGrid remains dedicated to providing smart staffing technology for every nurse, manager, and staffing department in the U.S. For more information, visit nursegrid.com.
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