Publication Date
Spring 2026
Degree Type
Doctoral Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Michelle Hampton
Keywords
Meaningful recognition, HWEAT, Burnout
Abstract
Background: The health of the work environment significantly influences emergency nurse practice. The Emergency Nurses Association and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses have called for the establishment of a healthy work environment (HWE) to improve outcomes, reduce burnout and turnover, and increase job satisfaction. Meaningful recognition is consistently among the lowest-performing HWE standards. Purpose: To implement a bundle of meaningful recognition elements in the Emergency Department (ED) and evaluate the outcomes. Methods: A quality improvement project was conducted in the ED of a non-profit community health system in Northern California. The Healthy Work Environment Assessment Tool (HWEAT) and Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) were used to assess the health of the work environment and nurse burnout before and after implementation of the meaningful recognition bundle. Results: There was a significant improvement in the overall HWEAT-Team and meaningful recognition HWE standard scores post-implementation of the meaningful recognition bundle. Conclusions: A multifaceted meaningful recognition bundle was successfully added to an overall department strategy to improve the health of the work environment with short-term increases in HWE scores indicating that the meaningful recognition bundle, as part of the department’s broader efforts, has the potential to improve the health of the work environment. However, burnout scores were unchanged, suggesting that additional time or interventions may be required to address burnout.
Recommended Citation
Truesdell, Sean, "Evaluating the Impact of a Meaningful Recognition Bundle on the Health of the Emergency Department Work Environment and Emergency Nurse Burnout" (2026). Doctoral Projects. 225.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31979/etd.j4e8-h42a
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/etd_doctoral/225
