Nurse burnout has been an Important topic of discussion for years, and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated what already seemed like a disaster set in motion long before SARS-CoV-2 stormed our shores. Meanwhile, physicians have been no strangers to burnout. This equation of multiple camps of clinicians experiencing moral distress, compassion fatigue, and existential exhaustion is a recipe for ongoing trouble in the American healthcare system.
We must be aware of our colleagues’ struggles, express our compassion and understanding, and contribute to developing solutions for everyone suffering.
Nurse Burnout Is Now a Given
No matter how we examine the phenomenon of nurse burnout, there appears to be general agreement that it is in dire need of being addressed, individually and collectively.
Some offer formulas for nurses to take back control of their own lives and well-being. Others float systemic solutions like improved staffing practices, decreased in corporate greed, and other interventions to stem the tide of nurses burning out and sometimes leaving the profession altogether.
It’s now simply a given that burnout among nurses is widely prevalent. Therefore, the need to address it from multiple vantage points and with numerous strategies is likely our best bet for some modicum of success.
Physician Burnout on the Rise
While it’s natural for nurses and the nursing community to focus on burnout in our profession, it is paramount to acknowledge that the problem has an ongoing impact on our physician colleagues. And since nurses and doctors work in close collaboration with mutual reliance, one group’s challenge does not happen in a vacuum.
In a February 5th, 2023, op-ed in the New York Times, Dr. Eric Reinhart described how doctors’ experience of demoralization syndrome is a direct result of doctors working as hard as possible to make up for a primarily broken healthcare system. He cites a report showing that, in 2021, 117,000 physicians left the profession, while less than 40,000 joined to replace them. He also makes mention of the alarming numbers related to physician suicide, with an average of 300 taking their own lives each year.
The Wider Implications of Burnout
Burnout among physicians and nurses can lead to compassion fatigue, incivility and bullying, behavior, medical errors, and strained relationships, among many other consequences. The repercussions of clinician burnout can be felt in our emergency departments, surgical suites, medical offices, and clinics, not to mention the homes and communities where these clinicians live.
While we may understandably think burnout negatively impacts job performance, workplace culture, and patient outcomes, its broader societal implications can’t be overlooked. The children and spouses of a burned-out physician are directly receiving work-related stress and burnout.
Cynicism, the loss of the ability to experience joy, and social withdrawal are common symptoms. The suffering individual is arguably less likely to attend church, volunteer in their community, attend children’s school functions, or have the mental or emotional capacity for anything beyond the demands of work and home life, and we all know that even that can be a significant stretch.
Solutions Must Be Found
There are countless potential implications of burnout among physicians, nurses, and colleagues knuckling under work-related stress. And while each group may focus on its challenges with good reason, broadening our focus and attention is humane and prudent.
Nurses need physicians as much as physicians need the support, expertise, and camaraderie of nurses. Both groups are somewhat autonomous in delivering high-quality patient care, and shortages of one have an unmistakably direct impact on the other.
With so many physicians reaching the end of their emotional tether, there is a societal responsibility to respond. We may, of course, complain that it just takes too long to get an appointment, but if we don’t pause to ask why that might be, we’re griping about the symptoms without considering what the underlying disease might be. And with nurses feeling overworked and undervalued, massive attrition from the profession can result in chronic understaffing, decreased quality of care, and worse patient outcomes.
Admitting that we’re all in this together is crucial. A rising tide lifts all boats, but a low tide can leave us stranded in the mud. Physician burnout is real, as is nurse burnout, and it’s evident that we ignore both at our peril.
Daily Nurse is thrilled to feature Keith Carlson, “Nurse Keith,” a well-known nurse career coach and podcaster of The Nurse Keith Show as a guest columnist. Check back every other Thursday for Keith’s column.
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