First Advisor

Kathleen Whalen, PhD

College

Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice

School

Loretto Heights School of Nursing

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Number of Pages

83 pages

Abstract

The complexities of the Health Call Center (HCC) amidst of a pandemic has caused an uptick in nurses and staff experiencing physical, emotional, and mental fatigue. An increase in sick calls during peak call days and times, breakroom discussion related to workload and competing patient and clinical priorities, and the consistent need to care for patients and caregivers, while maintaining familial and fiscal responsibilities and priorities contribute to the exhaustion of the nurses. The purpose of this Quality Improvement (QI) project was to use a structured survey tool and open-ended questions to identify HCC nurses’ perceptions of stressors and burnout in the HCC workplace. The burning platform was to validate work-related stressors caused by the perceived internal and external forces which can assist the leadership team in formulating stress management solutions to promote a healthy and productive HCC work environment. The primary outcome objective was to measure burnout using a descriptive design with the Maslach Burnout InventoryTM Human Services Survey for Medical Personnel (MBI-HSSMP) and to perform a thematic analysis of open-ended questions to understand the nurses’ perspectives about potential work-related stressors in the HCC environment that could lead to burnout. Results indicated nurses had lower scores for Emotional Exhaustion (EE) and Depersonalization (D), and high scores for Personal Accomplishment (PA) representing healthier behaviors and decreased burnout characteristics. Thematic analysis findings revealed themes related to standard work, process changes, clinical tools, operational practices, and organizational culture. In the HCC, the QI project recognized the domains of Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, the looming COVID-19 pandemic, and standard work variations as potential work-related stressors of HCC nurses that could lead to burnout.

Date of Award

Summer 2021

Location (Creation)

Colorado (state); Denver (county); Denver (inhabited place)

Rights Statement

All content in this Collection is owned by and subject to the exclusive control of Regis University and the authors of the materials. It is available only for research purposes and may not be used in violation of copyright laws or for unlawful purposes. The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations.

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