Surgeon General warns of healthcare workforce burnout
The U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory about worrisome burnout trends among healthcare workers.
Healthcare workers have faced numerous challenges on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, including supply shortages, lack of resources and understaffing. Coupled with the risks of the virus, several studies have shown healthcare workers are facing moral distress and symptoms of burnout.
Burnout––defined as a high degree of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and a low sense of personal accomplishment at work––was a significant challenge before the pandemic, with 35% to 54% of nurses and physicians and 45%-60% of medical students and residents reporting symptoms of burnout, the advisory noted. Burnout can also lead to anxiety and depression, but the phenomenon as a whole requires systemic solutions, especially as it can also have an adverse effect on care quality and patients. Further, healthcare workers are more likely to leave their roles after experiencing burnout, which places a heavy cost on health organizations.
According to the advisory, the U.S. must address the burnout issue systemically and prioritize front-line healthcare workers. This is opposed to addressing burnout through single, individual-level factors that likely won’t have a long-term impact on the problem.
“As we transition towards recovery, we have a moral obligation to address the long-standing crisis of burnout, exhaustion, and moral distress across the health community,” wrote the surgeon general, Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA. “We owe health workers far more than our gratitude. We owe them an urgent debt of action.”
The advisory made several recommendations related to how health systems can address burnout:
- Protect the health, safety, and well-being of all health workers
- Eliminate punitive policies for seeking mental health and substance use care
- Reduce administrative and other workplace burdens to help health workers make time for what matters
- Transform organizational cultures to prioritize health worker well-being and show all health workers that they are valued
- Recognize social connection and community as a core value of the healthcare system
- Invest in public health and our public health workforce
“Healthcare organizations can implement evidence-based policies, programs and solutions that identify, address and help prevent adverse health outcomes and burnout for health workers,” the advisory noted. “The pandemic has highlighted opportunities to strengthen organizational cultures and environments to be safer, more generous and more just for all health workers.”
Find the advisory here.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."