by: Pavan Zaveri, MD (CNMC)
Good early week to you,
Full Article: through Annals website or through MDconsult
Highlight numbers: 65% of ED Physicians reported symptoms of
burnout compared to 28% of nonphysicians; ED Physicians were ~3x more likely
than average physician to develop burnout
Granted this was general EM physicians, but I’m sure the rates
parallel some in PEM, especially a few concepts:
-
“fishbowl” atmosphere – literally and figuratively at UMC and
even CNMC where everyone is watching what we’re doing as we decide in seconds
what needs to be done with limited info- Burnout defined as engagement, emotions and fit
- Patients come on the “worst day of their life,” not exactly bringing happiness to us (let alone after a 4-6 hour wait to say it’s a cold)
Anyhow, take a read….and then think about yourself….where are
you?
From the remedies, recognition is key, and then discussing it,
acknowledging it (aside from optimizing schedules).
Enjoy.
Great topic, Pavan. Thanks for bringing it up. That part about patients associating the ER with "the worst day of their life" is great perspective that I do not always consider. It's easy to forget that while it's just another day at work for me, most people have gone through a lot before arriving in that exam room. It's hard to remember that even if families aren't immediately in a good mood despite my best efforts at empathy, compassion, and listening I should not be resentful or take it personally.
ReplyDeleteI also looked for the Burnout self-test the article references and unfortunately, it's proprietary. But for perspective, here is a link to an unvalidated, online version:
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTCS_08.htm
Interestingly, I think that the ER automatically gives us high burnout scores on this scale.