Using participatory management to empower nurses to identify and prioritize the drivers of their burnout

ABSTRACT

Background

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic contributed to intensified nurse burnout. Workplace factors influence burnout, requiring organizational-level action to mitigate this problem.

Aim

To inform immediate and long-term organizational tactics, we created workforce-informed recommendations for addressing burnout by engaging our nursing workforce to identify and prioritize the factors driving their burnout.

Methods

We creatively applied the participatory management LISTEN-SORT-EMPOWER model to gather nurse views on burnout, capturing data through focus group sessions and mobile app postings. We coded findings through thematic and sentiment analysis, and participants ranked these results to prioritize the factors of their burnout.

Results

We collected 80 h of feedback and 603 app comments, resulting in 800,000+ words. Our analysis identified twelve drivers of burnout, including three themes: (1) Staffing shortages (660; 43.8%); (2) Environment and culture (548; 36.4%); (3) Total compensation (299; 19.8%). Additionally, 1300+ nurses chose income, workload/stress injury, and work schedule as uppermost priorities for addressing their burnout.

Conclusions

Through novel project methods, leaders embraced participatory management to actively partner with nurses in identifying the drivers of nurse burnout. Healthcare organizations can design relevant and effective interventions to lessen clinician burnout by directly engaging and partnering with those experiencing burnout.

KEYWORDS:

• Professional burnout
• nurses
• quality improvement
• empowerment
• shared decision-making
• work engagement
• personnel management

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge all who contributed to the project, including the Department of Nursing Health Taskforce Members: Ben Bersick, Bridgette Maitre, Candace Lombardi, Doug Ostler, Hillary Jorgensen, Jayde Erickson, Jolene Grovum, Karen Porter, Karie Vanwoerkom, Kelly Robinson, Kripa Kucheria, Kurt Sowels, Maiko Taguchi, Marci Koenig, Stella Stencer, Rochelle Maughan-Franks, Sarah Creighton, Sharee Brinton, Tina Hepner, and System Partners: Christian Sherwood, Emily Izzo, Jamuna Jones, Luca Boi, Megan Call, Michael Danielson, Marcie Hopkins, Mari Ransco, and Shayma Salih. We also acknowledge Mary McFarland for helping with the literature search and Barbara L. Wilson and Gigi Austria for critiquing drafts of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Contributors

Scott Christensen: Writing – original draft preparation, writing – reviewing and editing, validation. Tracey Nixon: Conceptualization, methodology, resources, supervision, writing – reviewing and editing, project administration. Rita Aguilar: Conceptualization, methodology, data curation, writing – reviewing and editing, project administration. Zlata Muhamedagic: Conceptualization, methodology, data curation, writing – reviewing and editing, project administration. Kim Mahoney: Conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, data curation, writing – reviewing and editing, project administration, validation.

Data availability statement

The supporting data is not available because the participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly.

Additional information

Funding

The authors reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Scott S. Christensen

Scott Christensen holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice, Master of Business Administration, and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner certification. He is a PhD candidate and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Utah College of Nursing, and a senior nursing director at the University of Utah Health Hospitals and Clinics.

Tracey L. Nixon

Tracey Nixon is the chief nursing officer of the University of Utah Health Hospitals and Clinics, providing strategic and operational leadership for the Department of Nursing and leading enterprise-wide initiatives. She is a critical care nurse and has led nursing teams in capacity management, cardiovascular services, and critical care.

Rita L. Aguilar

Rita Aguilar is an Associate Chief Nursing Officer at the University of Utah Health Hospitals and Clinics. Rita has a Doctor of Nursing Practice, a second bachelor's degree in Sociology, and a Diversity certificate. Rita understands the social and organizational structures impacting nurses’ lives and well-being.

Zlata Muhamedagic

Zlata Muhamedagic is a skilled nursing professional with over 10 years of experience in rehabilitation leadership who understands the complexity and challenges within the healthcare industry. She is highly passionate about delivering excellent patient care, elevating the nursing profession, and promoting a cohesive work environment.

Kim Mahoney

Kim Mahoney is a Social Systems Designer (SSD) who develops products, programs, and processes for populations at University of Utah Health. She is the co-founder of the Accelerate Learning Community, a multidisciplinary team that designs solutions to complex healthcare challenges. Their outcomes are showcased on the Accelerate website (https://accelerate.uofuhealth.utah.edu/).