Burnout affects nurses’ mental health, which contributes to the nursing shortage. But Collette Health remote patient observation is one thing that can help.
Burnout is one of the main causes of the nursing shortage, particularly because it is affecting nurses’ mental health. “More than one-third (34%) of nurses say it’s very likely that they will leave their roles by the end of 2022 and 44% cited burnout and a high-stress environment as the reason for their desire to leave.” (Source: Fierce Healthcare) While this has become a hot topic, not much is being done about it. “Despite seemingly endless conversations in the public sphere about this issue, two-thirds of nurses said that the stance of the health care industry on nurse mental health had not changed since the start of the pandemic. Even worse, 95% said that their mental health was either not a priority for the health care industry or that it was a priority but there were inadequate measures in place to support it.” (Source: STAT)
It becomes a cycle. Burnout affects nurses’ mental health, which contributes to the nursing shortage. This, in turn, leads to more nurses feeling burnt out. So what can stop this cycle? What can help nurses with their mental health caused by burnout? Support in all aspects of the job. And one way to do that is through Collette Health remote patient observation.
How Does Burnout Affect Nurses?
Burnout often leaves nurses both physically exhausted, but it also greatly affects their mental health in ways such as leading to anxiety or even depression. “A depressed nurse may find it more difficult to concentrate, communicate, manage time, and critically think–all of these factors are detriments to mental health. They can cause a delay in patient care, medication errors, lapses in nursing judgment, etc.” (Source: nurse.org) Mental health burnout is one of the root causes of nurses leaving not only their jobs, but the healthcare industry all together. And while we may want to blame the pandemic for this burnout, this exodus in the nursing department is not new. “[With] ninety percent of respondents […] considering leaving the nursing profession in the next year […] seventy-two percent of respondents said they were experiencing nurse burnout long before the pandemic.” (Source: Healthcare IT News)
Nurses are leaving the nursing department because of burnout—feeling physically and mentally exhausted due to staff shortages, long hours, and high stress. So the question is: how can we prevent nurse burnout? With the help of remote patient observation systems like Collette Health.
How Collette Health Can Help
Patient falls, despite being deemed a “never event” by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services, still occur every day in hospitals across the nation. And these “never events” occur more often when a hospital is understaffed and can’t be as attentive to a patient.
At Collette Health, patient observation software means two things: keeping patients safe and providing a solution for nursing departments struggling with staff shortages. Patient observation software is a technology-enabled solution that connects at-risk patients to remote observers over video. Armed with a mobile cart, cameras, and two-way video connections, one observer can watch multiple patients at once, thus supporting nurses by saving them time and effort.
How Collette Health Serves as a Nursing Extension
While patient safety is our priority, there are many reasons to use Collette Health, including serving as a nursing extension by being nurses’ eyes and ears when they are not in the room. This extends from companionship and dementia support to dietary restriction compliance and mobility limitations compliance. The Collette Health system even has a way for observers to submit reports when they believe an adverse event has been avoided.
Collette Health can also be used as a virtual witness for nurses that are performing diagnostic exams independently—especially when those exams or procedures may compromise patient dignity. Think of different instances where a patient makes accusations against a health care worker. Until the health care worker is proven innocent or guilty, there’s time off work, an investigation, loss of wages, and so much more. Or what about an aggressive patient that puts the nursing staff at risk for injury, themselves? Collette Health can give nurses that peace of mind, to know that, as a clinician, you have that extra set of eyes to back up what you’re doing.
Want to learn more? Check out our newest white paper about how to support nurses’ mental health amidst the ongoing staff shortages.
If you are interested in installing Collette Health, please visit our Contact Us page now.