Burnout Among Physical Care Physicians

Burnout Among Physical Care Physicians

What is Burnout

Burnout is a very well-known clinical phenomenon experienced across all fields of nursing.  Physicians’ burnout is a mental, physical, and emotional state that is a result of overworking a lack of sustainable support and job fulfillment. Burnout is one of the most pressing issues facing medical professionals and has reached epidemic levels. Burnout usually is characterized by emotional exhaustion tiredness, and a low sense of personal accomplishment and job-related skepticism. Burn out if not treated, can lead to depression. Burnout in physicians is prevalent, with a prevalence rate that ranges between 25% and 60%.

Context of burnout

The shortage of physicians in a facility can lead to burnout among the medical personnel. A deficiency in the number of physicians implies that the number of patients that will be attended to by one physician will increase. Primary care physicians are involved physically, emotionally, and psychologically in their everyday responsibilities. Therefore, when a physician is required to attend to a large number of patients’ chances of them experiencing burnout are high. If the pressure persists, it can result in both physical and psychological disorders.

Physicians are at the time required to work for long hours with very minimal rest. Working for long hours means that one will be exhausted, thus leading. For effective performance, a primary care physician requires adequate rest and breaks between work shifts.

Impacts of burnout among physical care physicians

Burnout among physical care physicians is significant implications on the work environment. In the work environment, burnout cause disputes among health workers. Conflicts can result from ones’ failure to deal with the pressure that results from the intense workload and complex medical requirements. Impaired interpersonal relationships, in return, can affect productivity and co-operation among the staff members, thus affecting the quality of service provided to the patients. Burnout in physicians can lead to an agitated working environment.

Additionally, burnout has a significant impact on the quality of service that is provided by the physician. Exhaustion can result in several medical errors that can have a substantial impact on service provision, for example, a misdiagnosis. Burnout lowers levels of concentration, and this can negatively affect the quality of service provided to patients. A low level of attention means that the physician will miss out on essential details required before undertaking any medical procedure.

Burnout also leads to lower patient satisfaction. Patients usually note when a physician is distracted and disturbed. In return, the patients doubt the nature of service provided to them. Patients suffer greatly when a misdiagnosis occurs as a result of the primary care physician experiencing burnout. Misdiagnosis can further complicate a condition or even cause death.

Significance of the problem

Burnout in physicians is an essential area of study. Due to the complexity of the work of physical care, physicians are at risk of getting burnout. Addressing the symptoms associated with burnout is very vital in improving the productivity of physicians. Taking care of patients is a sensitive matter, and a lot of physical, psychological, and emotional efforts go into this practice. Therefore, addressing the effects of burnout like low concentration, fatigue, emotional, and mental distress will help reduce long term effects of burn out like depression.

Intervention for burnout

Reducing physician’s burnout help improve the quality of care provided to patients leading to an increase in patient satisfaction. Individuals, as well as organizations, need to come up with solutions that focus on dealing with burnout among physical care physicians. Interventions measures usually are aimed at helping physicians deal with the pressure associated with their profession. One solution is an individual focused form of approach. An individual type of strategy aims at assisting a physician is experiencing burnout develop practical coping skills and techniques of reducing stress through cognitive behavioral therapy.

Another interventional solution is making various organizational changes. Burnout of physicians can negatively affect an organization. It is the responsibility of officials of any organization to safeguard the well-being of their staff. An organization can hire more physicians to reduce the workload hence improving their productivity.