The Burnout In The Industry

For more than a decade, physicians, nurses, and other front-line caregivers have been presenting burnout symptoms, forcing them to leave their jobs or start treatment. Today, burnout is defined as a long-term stress reaction marked by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a lack of personal accomplishment.

The industry estimates that there will be a 20 percent gap between the clinical workforce supply and patient needs over the next three to five years. The healthcare environment with its packed work days, demanding pace, time pressures, and emotional intensity can put physicians and other clinicians at high risk for burnout.

At the end of 2021, nearly 63% of physicians reported symptoms of burnout, up from 38% in 2020. Research shows that large-scale change is needed to address the physician burnout crisis. Physicians between the ages of 40 and 54 experience a higher burnout rate than older or younger doctors.

According to the most recent surveys, burned-out doctors are more likely to leave practice, which reduces patients’ access to and continuity of care. Burnout can also threaten patient safety and care quality when depersonalization leads to poor patient interactions and when burned- out physicians suffer from impaired attention, memory, and executive function.

Many work hours, short visits, complicated patients, lack of control, electronic health record, stress, and poor work-home balance, can lead physicians leaving the practices they once loved, resulting in poor patient outcomes and shortages in primary care physicians.