Where Is the Humanity for Nurses? A Love Letter to My Fellow Nurse

Ask any nurse why they chose this profession and an altruistic vision to care for others usually follows or a heart-centered story is shared, yet the type of collateral paid in efforts to provide patient care often leaves nurses experiencing moral distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout, and even suicide.1,2 To cope, nurses learn how to shift into survival mode1 through a process of depersonalization,2 making way for feelings of numbness and emptiness. Particularly in emergency nursing, an endless barrage of patients, many critical and sometimes violent, leaves nurses in a consistent state of high alert that requires desensitization.
Source: Journal of Emergency Nursing: JEN - Category: Nursing Authors: Tags: Guest Editorial Source Type: research