Introduction

Stress is a normal part of life. Even positive life events, like getting married or graduating from school can be stressful.

Chronic stress though has a significant impact on body, mind, and spirit. And caregiver stress, in particular, affects both the caregiver and person receiving care. In this lesson, you'll explore the negative impacts and how you can successfully deal with stress.

Care providers in long-term care settings tend to have a higher burnout rate than those working in different professions. Nurses have long reported that their work conditions do not help them to provide patient-centered care. Mistakes occur, like missing important changes in the residents’ conditions.

Caregiver stress is a very real problem. This true for both informal caregivers (family neighbors, friends) and formal direct care workers. Both informal and informal caregivers report they do not have adequate training in person-centered dementia care, have more than one job, are raising families and have other stresses in addition to caregiving. Stress can lead to poor health, poor care, poor quality of life and increases the risk of abuse and neglect in the long-term care setting.

Signs and Symptoms of Burnout

Burnout can occur at any place of employment. As a caregiver that cares for an individual with dementia, you must recognize when you are having these feelings of burnout. If you identify these feelings you must do something about it so that you can continue giving the best possible care.

Causes of Nursing Burnout

Engagement Strategies

Some of the best ways to reduce or prevent burnout is to promote engagement strategies that enhance energy, involvement, and efficacy. Promoting engagement of caregivers involves increasing the positive aspects of working while reducing the negative ones. Changing the culture of the work environment may help develop a sense of engagement. It does the following:

• Allows for a sustainable workload
• Increases choice and control
• Provides recognition and rewards for jobs well done
• Encourages a sense of community
• Demonstrates fairness, respect, and justice
• Provides a sense that their work is meaningful and valued
• Promotes a healthy work environment helps to improve job satisfaction and retention, thus improving care recipient safety

Caregivers develop relationships with the care recipients and want to give the best care that they can. When the workload is overwhelming, and they cannot provide the appropriate care, it causes a feeling of discouragement and sadness at the end of their day. If this feeling is constant, they may become burned out due to the emotional stress.

Reducing stress is a combination of the following steps:

• Removing stressors
• Improving coping skills
• Learning techniques to offset stress