When we invest in clinician well-being, everyone wins.
Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Improving Professional Well-Being
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. health care workers were feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and stretched thin by a health system that often serves as a barrier to the vital clinician-patient relationship. A 2019 report from the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) found that the consequences extend beyond individual health care workers’ experiences of stress, burnout, anxiety, depression, and suicide. Clinician burnout is an occupational syndrome caused by mounting pressures in the U.S. health care system, which can adversely influence the quality and safety of patient care.
The report, Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Improving Professional Well-Being, emphasizes it is critical to address burnout not as an individual issue, but rather as a systems issue that stems from workplace culture, health care policies and regulations, and societal expectations. Building more supportive work environments will help address the serious public health concern of clinician burnout.
Making a commitment to invest in caregivers can lead to real improvements in their experiences, and is worth the time it takes. Janice Nevin, president and CEO of ChristianaCare, said, “We know that if we do not care for our caregivers first, it’s going to be very difficult for us to do what we need for our patients, for the communities we serve.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear that health workers need more support from their health care organizations, health education institutions, and in the professional culture of medicine. We must build on lessons learned during the pandemic to better prepare our health workforce—the backbone of our health system—for the future. Supporting clinician well-being requires sustained attention and action at organizational, state, and national levels, as well as investment in research and information-sharing to advance evidence-based solutions. Below are a collection of resources and tools for health care leaders to help reduce clinician burnout.
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“Making a commitment to invest in caregivers can lead to real improvements in their experiences, and is worth the time it takes. Janice Nevin, president and CEO of ChristianaCare, said, “We know that if we do not care for our caregivers first, it’s going to be very difficult for us to do what we need for our patients, for the communities we serve.”
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“We need to pay attention to the efforts that show we care about physicians,” said Kirk Calhoun, president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler and chair-elect of the Association of American Medical Colleges. “That means providing a comfortable workspace and having electronic systems that don’t take away from care. It means open communications and minimizing conflict in how people go about doing their jobs.”
Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Supporting Professional Well-Being calls upon leaders in health care organizations and health professions educational institutions to prioritize major improvements in clinical work and learning environments in all settings and across all disciplines. Individual-focused strategies can be an effective part of larger organizational efforts but do not sufficiently address clinician burnout on their own.
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“Improving clinician well-being should also be embedded in the organization’s annual goal-setting process, said Thomas Priselac, president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Health System in Los Angeles. The health system revisits these goals at least quarterly. “It not only signals to the organization what our strategic priorities are, but it also creates an organizational accountability loop,” he said.
The following case studies were authored by members of the NAM Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience (Clinician Well-Being Collaborative) and NAM staff on the basis of extensive interviews, document review, and site visits.
Virginia Mason Kirkland Medical Center is an outpatient clinic in the Virginia Mason Health System. Kirkland Medical Center cultivates a culture of collegiality and respect from the interview process to everyday practice, throughout which leadership expectations are clearly set and reaffirmed.
Central to the coordination and alignment of initiatives that span across The Ohio State University are the Office of the Chief Wellness Officer and the One University Health and Wellness Council.
The Ohio State University College of Nursing offers a variety of curriculum and non-curriculum-based programs to optimize student well-being. Wellness is built into the college’s five-year strategic plan, and outcomes are monitored annually.
At Ohio State, efforts to promote and support clinician well-being include facilitated traumatic event debriefings, monthly Schwartz Rounds®, and a preventive health initiative that offers staff retreats, free mindfulness courses, and culinary medicine classes.
Virginia Mason Kirkland Medical Center fosters intentional programs and policies that encourage all clinicians and staff to employ strategies that optimize workflow and team-based care.
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