Photo Credit: iStock.com/Sean Anthony Eddy
Dr. Girgis shares tips regarding how to recognize when you’re experiencing severe physician burnout and how to mitigate the severity of the condition.
All of us in healthcare experience burnout to some degree. There is so much to contend with beyond the usual stresses of caring for sick patients. We now must also contend with insurance denials, prior authorizations, quality reporting, charting to meet insurance company requirements, executives who lack a medical understanding, politicians who believe they do, and patients who are frustrated by all of the above.
Most of us who became doctors love practicing medicine, just not all the hassles that impede its delivery. When we start to hate our jobs and dread going to work, that’s a red flag that we need a break. Other warning signs of severe burnout include persistent lethargy, reduced work efficiency, increasingly negative thoughts, mood swings, irritability, and chronic exhaustion.
How to Manage Burnout?
- Schedule time off. Plan your vacations in advance so you have something to look forward to. If you’re sick, stay home.
- Learn to say no. What may seem like a simple task is another shovelful of paperwork on a mountain of to-do lists.
- Take time for things you enjoy. When we don’t do things we enjoy, it becomes like a hamster wheel of life: wake up, go to work, come home, sleep, and repeat. Life is too short for us not to enjoy some of it.
- Admit when you feel burnt out. We all like to think that we are fine. However, we need to know ourselves and recognize when we need to act regarding how we are feeling.
- Work for change. We are all aware that the American healthcare system needs reform. Advocate with your local politicians for a fix to the system.
- Seek help. There is no shame in this. We are human before anything else.
As we continue to do our best for our patients in a dysfunctional system, burnout is becoming a reality for most of us. We need to keep in mind that it is not a permanent condition, and we can take steps to mitigate its severity.
Any views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and/or participants and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of Physician’s Weekly, their employees, and affiliates.
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