The biggest threat to our health care system is a problem that few people talk about.
Clinician burnout
Excerpt from my speech at the mcguire Woods Health Care Conference:
In 2009, JAMA estimated that 30-40% of doctors were exhausted. [ 1 ]
In 20 12 years, a survey of 7288 doctors showed that 45.8% doctors had at least one symptom. [ 2 ]
In 20 15 and 20 16 years, Medscape surveyed more than17,000 doctors and reported that more than 50% doctors had at least one symptom of job burnout. [ 3 ]
More than half of doctors report that they have at least one symptom of burnout, and the pillar of our health care system is seriously ill.
Yesterday, I listened to another expert in this field. He believes that the only reason why burnout is not classified in DSM is that it will make them eligible for disability claims, and a large number of doctors will withdraw from the already overburdened health care system.
Personally, I have a slightly different view on this, although I have also seen the views of other burnout experts.
In my opinion, if many medical committees supervise the doctors listed in DSM, they will ask for disclosure, and then they must investigate and may limit the practice ability of some tired doctors.
Either way, the consequences are the same, but the latter needs the intervention of the medical commission.
During a recent meeting with the chief medical officer of a large system in Boston, she told me that their 16% exhausted doctors are also very dedicated. In other words, their enthusiasm is carrying them, but it is also killing them. They don't have the skills needed for self-care, and they don't spend time on self-care because they are very focused on taking care of patients.
Doctors are not the only ones who are exhausted. The situation of nurses has not improved, and research shows that their situation is worse. This is another excerpt from my speech at McGuire Woods:
63% of people said that their work led to burnout [4]
Study on 332 nurses
22% have symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
18% meets the diagnostic criteria of PTSD.
86% meet the criteria of burnout syndrome.
98% of PTSD patients were burned.
Therefore, both doctors and nurses retired early. Only 10% doctors would recommend medicine as a profession.
Medical students and nursing students are also miserable. 50% medical students are experiencing job burnout, and 10% students are experiencing suicidal thoughts. [ 6 ]
Exhaustion is a war that must be won on two fronts. Individuals can do some things to reduce the influence of stress, including developing healthy thinking habits.
Organizations must do something individually and collectively to prevent the accumulation of stressors that lead to this problem from overthrowing the best health care system in the world. We stood on the edge of the cliff, and the land under our feet was crumbling. It's not too late, but it may not be like this tomorrow.
Now is the time to take action.
Clinicians need to improve their skills and knowledge so that the health care system can begin to take necessary actions to protect them from excessive demands that interfere with their ability to become therapists.
In the speech I saw yesterday, it was reported that every two hours a doctor spent on patients, he spent an hour on paperwork. [ 7 ]
* * *, medical insurance companies, medical malpractice insurance companies, medical adjustment committees, and employers have all contributed to the job burnout of clinicians. They should consider the impact on doctors and other clinicians before assigning tasks. Just as EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) evaluates the impact on the environment, the task of clinicians should be to evaluate the impact on clinicians and health care services.
I often ask the groups I have talked to how many of them would not survive without modern medicine. Usually almost every hand is up. Then I asked them how many people would die more than once, and usually more than half of the rooms raised their hands, including mine.
What can you do to help?
It's time for medical care recipients to get the support of clinicians. Don't leave doctors and nurses alone. Let people know that you want to solve this problem now (not just measurement). Tell your doctors and nurses how much you appreciate them. Tell your elected officials that they need to consider the impact of delegation. Use social media to tell insurance companies to stop killing doctors, deprive them of themselves, and add obstacle courses to their patient care.
We can change the trend together. We can make the world a better place together.