Physician wellness: Managing stress and preventing burnout
Physician burnout is increasing, but navigating its prevention involves a complex intersection of physical, psychological, social, and organizational strategies.
PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS
› Serve as a leader and positively influence the systems (ie, organizations, institutions, offices) in which you practice as a way to address organizational stress. C
› Establish and maintain positive, supportive, and close relationships with friends, family, and colleagues to improve social wellness. C
Strength of recommendation (SOR)
A Good-quality patient-oriented evidence
B Inconsistent or limited-quality patient-oriented evidence
C Consensus, usual practice, opinion, disease-oriented evidence, case series
Supportive relationships are powerful. Finally, to enhance social wellness, it would be difficult to overstate the potential benefits of positive, supportive, close relationships.42 However, the demands of a career in medicine, starting in medical school, have the potential for inhibiting (rather than enhancing) close relationships.
Placing value on relationships with friends and family members is essential. As Dr. M began experiencing burnout, he felt increasingly lonely, yet he isolated himself from those who cared about him. Dr. A felt lonely at home, even though she was surrounded by family. Physicians are often reluctant to initiate vulnerable communication with others, believing “no one wants to hear about my problems.” However, by realizing the need for help and asking friends and family for emotional support, physicians can improve their wellness. Fostering supportive relationships can help provide the resilience needed to address organizational stressors.
Tackling organizational challenges
Long hours and pressure to see large numbers of patients (production demands) are a challenge across practice settings. Limiting work hours has been effective in improving the well-being of physician trainees but has had an inconsistent effect on burnout.43,44
Organizations can offer flexible scheduling, and physicians considering limiting work hours may switch to part-time status or shift work. However, decreasing work hours may have the unintended consequence of increased stress as some physicians feel pressure to do more in less time.45 Therefore, it’s important to set clear boundaries around work time and when and where work tasks are completed (eg, home vs office).
How we use technology matters. Given technology’s ever-increasing role in medicine, organizations must identify and use the most efficient, effective technology for managing clerical processes. When physicians participate in these decisions and share their experiences, technology is likely to be more user-friendly and impose less stress.46
Continue to: If technology contributes to stress...
