Physician burnout. Symptoms, causes and possible solutions

With a better awareness of mental health and mental health issues, conditions like burnout are being recognized more easily.

Introduction

Physician burnout is a significant problem facing healthcare professionals that can be addressed through national policy changes and lifestyle adjustments. Physician burnout is a significant problem facing healthcare professionals that can be addressed through national policy changes and lifestyle adjustments. Burnout is a symptom of a larger problem, and it can be prevented by taking care of yourself so you’re able to take care of others.

The first step in addressing this issue is having better policies for physicians with regard to work-life balance, including limiting hours worked per week and providing time off for training or recuperation after being away from home for more than four days at one time (the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than two consecutive days). It’s also important that employers provide resources like stress management classes or online counseling services so employees don’t feel isolated when they need help dealing with their own issues—or those caused by working long hours all day every day!

What is physician burnout?

Physician burnout is a syndrome that affects physicians and other healthcare professionals. It is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment. The symptoms of physician burnout include feelings of cynicism or hopelessness about their work; reduced enthusiasm for patients; increased risk-taking in surgical procedures; increased alcohol consumption; high levels of stress related to family demands or personal relationships; elevated levels of anxiety about patient outcomes; and decreased sense of purpose in life overall.

Physicians who experience burnout often report experiencing symptoms such as feeling unwell during work hours (feeling sick), difficulty concentrating on tasks at hand because they feel overwhelmed by the volume of information they have to process every day (information overload), having difficulty sleeping due to worry over patient care needs not being met—and sometimes even suicidal thoughts!

Symptoms of physician burnout

• Depersonalization: This is the feeling that your job feels like a job, and not like something you’re passionate about. You may feel detached from your work, and it may seem trivial to you.
• Low sense of accomplishment: You may feel that your contributions aren’t making much difference in the world, or even worse, that they’re harmful (for example by contributing to overpopulation).
• Emotional exhaustion: Your emotions are drained because there’s so much pressure on you during work hours and at home as well—you don’t have time to recharge yourself mentally or physically!
• Low personal accomplishment: Instead of enjoying what makes life worth living (family/friends), how often do we find ourselves thinking about how much money we could make if only things were different? How many people would want my services if only I could afford them?

Causes of physician burnout and why it’s especially problematic now

The causes of physician burnout are many and varied. These include:

• Lack of support from management and colleagues
• Lack of autonomy and control
• Overwork, long working hours, low job satisfaction (that can lead to depression), emotional exhaustion

How to prevent physician burnout

• Reduce the number of hours worked
• Take a sabbatical
• Work fewer shifts (if possible)

Take a break from work, even if it’s just for one day. It will help you recharge your batteries and re-energize. You can also use this time to catch up on sleep and exercise, which will help keep you healthy at work when you return.

Learn how much sleep is appropriate for each person based on their age, height, weight, and physical condition—and try not to oversleep! If necessary, get up during the night because sleeping longer than eight hours may cause fatigue or irritability during waking hours (and no one wants an irritable doctor!).

Also make sure that whatever schedule works well for other family members doesn’t interfere with yours either: ask people around you what times are best for them too so neither group feels excluded from sharing responsibilities at home/workplace levels alike.

Another way to prevent this is to focus on the underlying issue. Most of the trouble comes from healthcare providers trying to work harder, longer and faster. But doing so for a constant period of time can lead to many of the pressures and stresses that can lead to burnout. If physicians instead tried to improve medical practice efficiency then they can have the same result as working harder, longer, or faster but without the additional stress. The way to do this is by working smarter, taking proper marketing help, and using modern technology to help where possible.

How to reduce physician burnout

To reduce the risk of burnout, it’s important to set boundaries and take time off. You can also seek help from friends or family members who have experienced the same situation you are in.

It’s also important to get enough sleep, exercise, and eat well. You may want to consider joining a community of like-minded people who share similar interests or hobbies so that you can relax when you’re not working as a physician.

How to recover from physician burnout

If you’re feeling burned out, there are a few things you can do to recover.

• Take a break from the grind. It’s important that you take some time away from your current job and try something else for a while—even if it’s just going on vacation with friends or family. The goal here isn’t necessarily to find another job as much as it is to recharge your batteries and get back into the groove of life after having been so busy working long hours at work every day for months or years on end without any breaks in between.
• Sleep better at night by getting more restful sleep patterns through healthy eating habits (like eating oatmeal before bed), quitting smoking cigarettes altogether if possible, drinking less caffeine throughout the day (which can make people feel tired), exercising regularly so that they don’t feel tired during their waking hours either — all these things will help keep both physical & mental health levels up which means fewer stressors overall!

Conclusion

The good news is that physician burnout is a significant problem facing healthcare professionals that can be addressed through national policy changes and lifestyle adjustments. With initiatives like the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and programs such as the Medicare Physician Payment Sunshine Act, we’re making progress toward better patient care while reducing costs to taxpayers.

But we need more than new laws—we also need to change our own mindsets about what it means to be a doctor or nurse. This means taking time away from work when needed, getting more sleep (and less coffee), and being aware of how much stress you’re under at all times so you can take steps toward reducing it before it reaches dangerous levels.

BraveLabs is a physician marketing company that helps physicians stave away burnout by delivering highly customized digital healthcare marketing solutions. Contact us today to learn how our solutions can help you be more effective in your healthcare practice.