Dr. Cheryl Roth is a Nurse Practitioner, Labor and Delivery, HonorHealth Scottsdale Shea/Osborn, Scottsdale, AZ. Dr. Roth can be reached via email at
MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs. 2020 Sep/Oct;45(5):271-279. doi: 10.1097/NMC.0000000000000643.
Being swamped is defined as "when you are so overwhelmed with what is occurring that you are unable to focus on the most important thing." The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of being swamped in the clinical setting among nurses who are members of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) and the relationship of the level of being swamped to adherence to the nurse staffing guidelines.
A 25-item survey was sent to ~21,000 AWHONN members by email in the Fall of 2018. It was completed by 1,198 members, representing 49 states and the District of Columbia. Questions explored timing and causes of being swamped, its effect on health care team members and patients, what helps when a nurse feels swamped, and nurses' reports of their hospital following the AWHONN nurse staffing guidelines.
Twenty-eight percent of nurses reported being swamped daily or multiple times per day. Situations that contribute to being swamped include assignments that are too heavy, interruptions, critical patient situations, and mistakes made by others that nurses are expected to catch and fix. Teamwork and someone stepping in to help without being asked were identified as most helpful when a nurse feels swamped. Nurses practicing in hospitals following the AWHONN nurse staffing guidelines always or most of the time reported less frequency of being swamped as compared with those in hospitals that followed the guidelines some of the time, or rarely (p < 0.001).
Being swamped is a common phenomenon among AWHONN members responding to the survey. The reported incidence of being swamped daily is significantly associated with the extent to which hospitals follow the AWHONN nurse staffing guidelines. Nurse leaders, hospital administrators, and staff nurses must work together to identify and initiate timely, feasible nurse staffing solutions that support the safety of patients and nurses.
“ overwhelmed ”的定义是“当你被发生的事情淹没，以至于无法专注于最重要的事情时”。本研究的目的是探讨在妇女健康、产科和新生儿护士协会（AWHONN）成员的临床环境中被淹没的体验，以及被淹没的程度与遵守护士人员配备指南之间的关系。
2018 年秋季，通过电子邮件向 AWHONN 约 21000 名成员发送了一份 25 项的调查。共有 1198 名成员完成了调查，代表了 49 个州和哥伦比亚特区。问题探讨了被淹没的时间和原因、对医护人员和患者的影响、当护士感到被淹没时的帮助、以及护士对其所在医院遵守 AWHONN 护士人员配备指南的报告。
28%的护士报告每天或每天多次被淹没。导致被淹没的情况包括任务过重、中断、危急病人情况以及其他人犯错而护士需要发现并纠正。当护士感到被淹没时，团队合作和有人主动帮忙而无需被要求被认为是最有帮助的。在遵守 AWHONN 护士人员配备指南的医院工作的护士总是或大部分时间报告被淹没的频率低于遵守指南的时间较少或很少的医院（p < 0.001）。
被淹没是回应调查的 AWHONN 成员中常见的现象。报告的每天被淹没的发生率与医院遵守 AWHONN 护士人员配备指南的程度显著相关。护士领导者、医院管理人员和护士必须共同努力，确定并及时实施可行的护士人员配备解决方案，以支持患者和护士的安全。
