November 03, 2023
Brandy Winfree, MBA, RD, CSR, LDN
CRN of Florida Chapter Co-Chair
The World Health Organization identifies burnout as an occupational phenomenon, consisting of exhaustion, the act of mentally distancing from one’s job, cynicism related to one’s job, and/or reduced personal efficacy (Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases, 2019). While professional burnout existed long before the COVID-19 public health emergency and will certainly exist long after, we look here at the rates at which healthcare professionals experienced burnout due to the public health emergency and the consequences resulting from that distress.
According to a 2020 study, burnout during the pandemic was most often found to be triggered by excessive or demanding workload interfering with life outside of work, clinical expectations beyond what is reasonable based on a professional’s training, high stress levels, and lack of adequate organizational resources like PPE and COVID-specific training; and was often linked to physiological symptoms like chronic fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, headaches, and gastrointestinal issues (Morgantini, et al., 2020).
A nationwide cross-sectional study of healthcare workers found an association between professional burnout and intent to leave healthcare as a profession (Rotenstein, et al., 2023). This may be concerning to those of us left, as we have no reason to expect a decline in demand for our services. This intended exodus can be expected to increase the workload on a system only just recovering from the worst pandemic in 100 years (Feehan & Apostolopoulos, 2021).
So, how can we help? The US Surgeon General advises healthcare workers to combat burnout by:
- Learning to recognize signs of distress or burnout in ourselves and our colleagues
- Staying connected and reaching out for help
- Prioritizing moments of joy and connection
- Maintaining good habits for overall health
- Using our voices to advocate for positive changes in the workplace
While some of these suggestions may seem obvious, it is important as we find ourselves and our colleagues advancing into positions of leadership and as we participate in Q&As, All Hands, or other organizational meetings — to remember that we are only as strong as our team and that we must advocate for reasonable workloads, safe working conditions, appropriate work-life balance, and healthy work environments for ourselves, our colleagues, and incoming healthcare professionals. We spend our days advocating for our patients, but we must find some measure of energy left at the end of the day to advocate for ourselves.
References
(2019, May 28). Burn-out an "occupational phenomenon": International Classification of Diseases. World Health Organization. Retrieved October 5, 2023, from https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
Feehan, J., & Apostolopoulos, V. (2021). Is COVID-19 the worst pandemic? Maturitas, 149, 56-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2021.02.001
Morgantini, L. A., Naha, U., Wang, H., Francavilla, S., Acar, Ö., Flores, J. M., Crivellaro, S., Moreira, D., Abern, M., Eklund, M., Vigneswaran, H. T., & Weine, S. M. (2020). Factors contributing to healthcare professional burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic: A rapid turnaround global survey. PLOS ONE, 15(9), e0238217. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238217
Rotenstein, L.S., Brown, R., Sinsky, C. et al. The Association of Work Overload with Burnout and Intent to Leave the Job Across the Healthcare Workforce During COVID-19. J GEN INTERN MED 38, 1920–1927 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08153-z
US Department of Health and Human Services (2022, May 23). Health Worker Burnout. Office of the US Surgeon General. Retrieved October 5, 2023, from https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/health-worker-burnout/ind…