Say Yes to Engagement!

 

Love is in the air...but not as much in hospitals. Let's talk about it, it is called engagement. And by engagement I mean nurses' work engagement, or more generally, healthcare provider engagement. It is a topic that surprisingly is still poorly actioned on, although research suggests it is an important issue in health services.

It is estimated that as many as 25% of nurses suffer from burnout (this is an estimate in a population of European nurses), and the prevalence of burnout among both doctors and nurses is on the increase (2006 study). Over the last few years, there has been a shift in focus, from "burnout literature" to an alternative movement of "positive psychology". This focus gives more attention to human strengths and optimal functioning rather than to their deficits, so rather than focusing on burnout, the idea is to find ways of increasing the positive consequences for people at work.

Recent research also support the findings of Maslach and Leiter, who identified six areas of organizational life that are crucial in the development of burnout: