I quickly realized that I had made the wrong decision. I should have been with my mom, helping her navigate the system and make more informed decisions about her treatment. Fortunately, my mom did well and she is still alive today. As painful as it was, the lessons of that period have stuck with me, and I’ve worked hard not to let work overwhelm me for the rest of my life.
This is an important start and one of the first national efforts to support healthcare workers, but it is only the beginning. Mental health research is just as critical as raising awareness of the issues. There is so much we don’t know: Which roles and specialties are experiencing the effects of burnout at the highest rates, and therefore which workers are most at risk? Can we identify vulnerable workers before they experience burnout? How can we prevent it? How can we do any of that at a cost that is not prohibitive for health systems, many of which are already strapped for budgets?
While additional funding from Dr. Lorna Breen’s Health Care Provider Protection Act will provide much-needed support in finding answers to these questions, health care organizations will also need to ensure they are putting mental and physical health of your employees front and center. .
This is where they can start:
Provide more support
Spot burnout early on
Health system leaders should facilitate regular meetings between management and their direct reports to see how they are doing, prioritizing physicians who are early in their careers, along with those who practice in understaffed areas and those who They deal with critically ill patients. witnessing serious illness and death. It is important to make it easy for workers to come forward and ask for help, and normalize it, through different channels or forums.
Implement operational improvements
Perhaps most importantly, efforts to support health workers must be accompanied by organizational changes. Many healthcare workers spend hours on administrative and documentation tasks, dealing with inefficient technology systems. Better technology and processes can help them be more efficient and save time on administrative work. Health systems may look for solutions to help address the burdens associated with electronic health records and documentation, in particular, such as tools that make it easier to find hidden information or artificial intelligence to help take notes.
In addition, companies should hire more workers. When units are short-staffed, existing workers often have to take on more responsibilities. Careful attention to workload can offset some of these loads. For example, doctors would benefit from dedicated help creating templates or order sets for common situations to help save time, or administrative staff can manage some tasks that don’t necessarily require a doctor.
Lasting change will require dedicated and ongoing efforts by health system leaders, policymakers, technology companies, researchers, and each of us. I think we can all agree that addressing healthcare worker burnout is a worthwhile investment. Let’s make sure we use all the tools in our toolbox to support the physical and mental health of the dedicated professionals who heal us every day. This is how we can truly honor Dr. Breen’s legacy.
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