Burnout Among Intensive Care Nurses

At a time when the healthcare system is experiencing strain due to the current health crisis and nursing shortages, talking about, and addressing nursing mental health is of the utmost importance. Nurses who work in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) often face more stress due to the patient population they work with. These stresses can lead to burnout and moral distress if not addressed appropriately. Nurses should have a system in place at their workplace and tools readily available to support their mental health while on the job. Through a literature search, it is proposed that an initiation of a hospital-based program that includes journaling, meditation, breathing exercises, and a provided gym membership can help reduce symptoms of moral distress and burnout in PICU nurses. Implementation of a mindfulness-based intervention program for these nurses would decrease prevalence of psychological disorders and improve longevity of employment in the pediatric ICU. In the long term, less turnover in the ICU would mean more experienced nurses caring for out most vulnerable population of nurses. It is also hypothesized that patient satisfaction would increase with an improvement in the mental of health and overall happiness of their nurses providing care in the PICU