Date of Conferral

2-6-2025

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Melanie Braswell

Abstract

The aim of this staff education project was to educate health care practitioners about the early recognition of symptoms of burnout. Burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic stress that has not been successfully managed. Symptoms of burnout appear as energy depletion, increased mental distance from one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy (World Health Organization 2019). Through a review of existing literature and analysis of qualitative data I gathered from practitioners, I identified key indicators of burnout and its implications for practitioner efficacy and patient outcomes. The findings underscore the urgent need for a proactive approach to address burnout in mental health settings. The practice-focused question centered on whether a staff education program focusing on symptomatology of burnout provides an increase in knowledge for the health care practitioners. The identified practice gap was a lack of knowledge and skills among practitioners on strategies for identifying and controlling symptoms of burnout. An educational program consisting of a pretest, a PowerPoint presentation, and a posttest was given to six practitioners in a mental health outpatient setting. The average pretest score was 90% and the average posttest score, 100%. I used Microsoft Excel to perform a two- sample t test, t = 1.4056, p = 0.1934. The increase in the number of correct answers from the pre- to the posttest suggests that the participants gained knowledge about burnout symptoms; however, results approached but did not reach statistically significance at p < .05. If implemented, the staff education may enable health care practitioners to identify symptoms of burnout much earlier. The implications for positive social change include potentially enhancing the overall well-being of providers and also the quality of care they deliver.

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