- Bill Doherty
June 2022 - Newsletter
This newsletter comes to you at an interesting moment in clinical burnout given the lingering effects of the pandemic, coupled with stressors that preceded it stemming from technology, enterprise culture, and broader workforce challenges.
It also gives you a preview of some of the deeper themes that will be presented in the upcoming Healthcare Burnout Symposium in New York City on June 23-24.
As you will see in our first piece below, this burnout epidemic has received national attention with the announcement where United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new Surgeon General’s Advisory highlighting the urgent need to address the health worker burnout crisis across the country.
NEWS ALERT: New Surgeon General Advisory Sounds Alarm on Health Worker Burnout and Resignation
During Mental Health Awareness Month, Surgeon General’s Advisory Highlights the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Health Workers, Who Already Faced Crisis Levels of Burnout Prior to the Pandemic.
Paul DeChant, MD, MBA - Author, speaker, consultant, and recognized expert on clinician burnout
Burnout expert Dr. Paul DeChant espouses that control is the second driver of burnout. There are many ways in which physicians experience lack of control. As you will read in this piece, many of these are outside of a front-line physician’s span of control, such as regulatory requirements, choice of EHR, etc. DeChant refers to these as “pebbles in the shoe” that can only be relieved by creative problem solving like the daily huddle. (By now almost everyone is aware that a huddle is a brief, stand-up meeting of the team working together in an office or on a unit.)
The burnout producing problems that are addressed in the huddle are there because someone on the team identified the problem, and rather than simply putting up with it, they put it on the huddle board to be reviewed the next day. Read on to explore how you might be able to institute the huddle strategy for burnout prevention.
Blog: Regaining Control and Preventing Burnout through Huddles
Christina Maslach, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, Emerita; Professor of the Graduate School, University of California, Berkeley
Burnout poses a major challenge for health care. It is the result of mismatches between the workplace and the worker, in six critical areas. Innovative answers to this challenge need to modify this job-person relationship by managing the chronic job conditions in these areas, so that people can work smarter rather than just harder.
Video: Take On Burnout Where You Are
J. Corey Feist, JD, MBA, Co-Founder, Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation
J. Corey Feist, JD, MBA is a health care executive with over 20 years of experience. Corey is the Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation and Corey recently served as the Chief Executive Officer of the University of Virginia Physicians Group, the medical group practice of UVA Health comprised of 1200+ physicians and advanced practice providers. Corey has authored numerous publications on the need to support the well-being of the healthcare workforce.
The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act:
Establishes grants for training health profession students, residents, or health care professionals in evidence-informed strategies to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders. The grants would also help improve health care professionals’ well-being and job satisfaction.
Seeks to identify and disseminate evidence-informed best practices for reducing and preventing suicide and burnout among health care professionals, training health care professionals in appropriate strategies, and promoting their mental and behavioral health and job satisfaction.
Establishes a national evidence-based education and awareness campaign targeting health care professionals to encourage them to seek support and treatment for mental and behavioral health concerns.
Establishes grants for employee education, peer-support programming, and mental and behavioral health treatment; health care providers in current or former COVID-19 hotspots will be prioritized.
Establishes a comprehensive study on health care professional mental and behavioral health and burnout, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on such professionals’ health.
Video: Meet Corey Feist, championing legislation for healthcare workers’ mental health | Meet a Participant
Fact Sheet: 10 Facts About Physician Suicide And Mental Health
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Whitepaper: The Digital Whiteboard: A Sign of Improved Patient Comfort and Satisfaction
Upcoming ICD Healthcare Network Series
Patient Experience Symposium – Boston – September 19-21, 2022
ICD Events is proud to be a part of the solution for this growing crisis with our Healthcare Burnout Symposium. The symposium will provide answers and solutions for healthcare leadership, management, and clinicians affected by the burnout crisis.
We encourage all those interested to reach out to us if you have any questions or would like to learn more about the symposium.