NP burnout affecting patient safety, study says

Primary care facilities employing stressed and burned out nurse practitioners experienced increased rates of elder patients with chronic conditions requiring emergency care, a study found. Published in the December 2023 issue of the Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision and Financing, the authors’ conclude health systems should improve NP working conditions to reduce burnout. The authors collected survey data in 2018-2019 from 1,244 primary care NPs from six states on their burnout and merged that data with Medicare claims data on emergency department use and hospitalizations among 467,466 elder adults with chronic conditions. AONL member Lisa Dolan, MSN, RN, senior vice president and CNO at Ardent Health Services in Nashville, Tenn., suggests CNOs should implement well-being check-ins. (HealthLeaders Media article, 1/8/24)