Mental Health Research, Social Issues / 26.12.2023

In the fast-paced, interconnected world we now live in, the prevalence of burnout has become a concerning reality for many. The term was first coined in the 1970s to describe the chronic workplace stress that led to physical and emotional exhaustion. Since then, if you are feeling run down and exhausted you may well be yet another victim of modern-day fatigue. Here is a look at the nuances of burnout and some key factors contributing to this pervasive problem. Burnout goes beyond the workplace While burnout traditionally has its roots in a professional workplace setting, modern-day pressures means that the phenomenon now extends beyond the confines of the workplace. Burnout now encompasses a holistic exhaustion that permeates various aspects of life. These include personal relationships, social interactions, and even leisure activities. We have even reached a point where The World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognized burnout as a syndrome in the International Classification of Diseases, emphasizing its impact on overall well-being. (more…)
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Sleep Disorders / 16.02.2023

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael R. Schutz, Ph.D. Professor of Music Cognition/Percussion at McMaster University Founding director of the MAPLE Lab and Core member of the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind. Prof. Schutz is also a professional musician and directs McMaster’s percussion ensemble.   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Hospitals around the world are filled with devices generating aconstant stream of tones conveying information to medical staff.overburdened healthcare professionals, and contributes to burnout inmedical staff.  The Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) regularlyincludes problems with auditory alarms in their list of "Top 10 HealthTechnology Hazards" and they  are so problematic an FDA surveyimplicated them in hundreds of patient deaths.While there is currently a lot of interest in how to improve alarmmanagement protocols, this study is different in that it looks atimproving the quality of the alarm sounds themselves.  For historicalreasons many default to simplistic "beeps" which are generallyannoying.  While annoying is useful for critical alarms requiringimmediate action, the vast majority of these messages are merelyintended to update medical staff of changes (i.e. blood pressure isrising) or indicate other situations that do not require immediateaction. Unfortunately, many machines use the same simplistic andannoying "beeps" regardless of whether the messages are urgent ornon-urgent.  This constant flood of annoying beeps negatively affectsboth patients (extending recovery time due to interrupted rest) andstaff (who can develop "alarm fatigue" from the constant cacophony). (more…)
Nursing / 18.10.2022

Nursing can be a tough career at times. You have to deal with emotionally challenging situations on a regular basis, providing empathetic care to patients and their loved ones at difficult times in their lives. It’s no surprise that this can take a toll on your wellbeing, for example, in the form of stress or burnout. One particularly difficult issue to be aware of is compassion fatigue. Keep reading to find out more about this condition and how to overcome it.

What is compassion fatigue?

nurse-burnout-healthcareCompassion fatigue is when you are exposed to suffering, trauma, or similar negative emotional states in others so much that you become desensitized and indifferent to it. You may also hear it referred to as secondary trauma or vicarious trauma, with many arguing that it’s an inevitable response. Whichever name you use, it’s a condition in which you feel physically and psychologically exhausted, resulting in a diminished capacity for empathy. This, in turn, has a negative impact on your ability to do your job as a nurse. Sadly, compassion fatigue is not uncommon in the healthcare field, which is why it’s so important to be alert to the symptoms and understand how to respond when they arise. (more…)
Author Interviews, Duke, Electronic Records, Health Care Systems, JAMA / 20.04.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eugenia McPeek Hinz MD MS FAMIA Associate CMIO - DHTS Duke University Health System MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Clinician burnout rates have hovered around 50% for much of the past decade.  Burnout is a significant concern in healthcare for its effects on care givers and associated downstream adverse implications on patient care for quality and safety. The ubiquitous presence of Electronic Health Records (EHR) along with the increased clerical components and after hours use has been a significant concern for contributing to provider burnout.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Surgical Research / 03.11.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Pravesh S. Gadjradj, MD Department of Neurosurgery, Leiden University Medical Center, University Neurosurgical Center Holland Leiden, Netherlands neurosurgery brain surgery ct scan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Many healthcare professionals throughout the world face issues surrounding medical malpractice at some point in their careers. Unfortunately, a number of these cases turn into medical malpractice lawsuits. As a specialty that treats acute pathology and refractory pain, neurosurgery is at risk for high liability. By the means of a survey among members of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS), we aimed to illustrate how malpractice lawsuits affect neurosurgeons professionally, emotionally and financially.   MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?  Response: Some 490 members of the CNS shared their experiences with us. Among these members, 81% faced a medical malpractice lawsuit. The main concerns expressed about being sued included losing confidence and practicing defensive medicine, personal assets being at risk, and being named in the National Practitioner Data Bank. Of the respondents, 40% stated they were frequently or always concerned about being sued, and 77 % stated their fear had led to a change in how they practice medicine. For 58 %, this change led to the practice of defensive medicine, while for others it led to more extensive documentation (14%) and/or to referring or dropping complex cases (12%). Given the medical malpractice environment, 59% of respondents considered referring complex patient cases, whereas 37% considered leaving the practice of medicine. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA / 30.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karina Pereira-Lima, PhD Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Questions regarding the magnitude and direction of the associations between physician depressive symptoms and medical errors remain open in recent literature. By pooling data from 11 studies involving 21,517 physicians, we were able to verify that depressive symptoms among physicians were associated with increased risk of reporting medical errors (RR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.63 – 2.33). (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA / 27.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: James S. Goodwin, M.D. George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Geriatric Medicine University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX  77555-0177James S. Goodwin, M.D. George and Cynthia Mitchell Distinguished Chair in Geriatric Medicine University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX  77555-0177 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Full time hospital doctors, called hospitalists, now provide the medical care for most patients hospitalized in the US. Depending on the hospital and also the hospitalist group, the working schedules of hospitalists can have vary greatly. For example, some might work 8 AM to 5PM for seven days followed by seven days off. Others might work 24 hours on and 72 hours off. Depending on the schedule of the hospitalists proving care, a patient  might have one or two or three or more different doctors proving care during their stay. Some patients see a new doctor each day. Our goal was to see if patients who received care from hospitalists who tended to work several days in a row did better than those who were cared for many different hospitalists with intermittent schedules. (more…)
Abuse and Neglect, Electronic Records, Yale / 15.11.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Edward R. Melnick, MD, MHS Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Program Director, Yale-VA Clinical Informatics Fellowship Program Principal Investigator, EMBED Trial Network Yale School of Medicine New Haven, CT 06519  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: We know that physicians are frustrated with their EHRs and that EHRs are a driver of burnout. This is the first study to measure these issues nationally. We included a standardized metric of technology from other industries (System Usability Scale, SUS; range 0-100) on the AMA’s 2017 physician burnout survey. This metric has been used in >1300 other studies so we can compare where the EHR’s usability is to other everyday technologies. We are also able to measure the relationship between physicians’ perception of their EHR’s usability and the likelihood they are burned out. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, NEJM, Surgical Research / 31.10.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ryan J. Ellis, MD MS General Surgery Resident Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement Center (SOQIC) Northwestern Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Burnout has emerged as a significant problem affecting the entire healthcare workforce and it has been likely to myriad downstream problems such as increases in medical errors, alcoholism, and depression. Despite the attention on clinician burnout, there are significant gaps in our understanding of how the workplace environment may lead to burnout. Moreover, there are particular concerns about the workplace environment in training, specifically with regards to abuse, discrimination, and harassment. We had the opportunity to survey all U.S. general surgery residents to comprehensively define the frequency of workplace mistreatment and its relationship with burnout and suicidal thoughts among surgical residents. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, University of Michigan / 18.10.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chithra R. Perumalswami, MD, MSc Research Fellow Center for Bioethics & Social Sciences in Medicine University of Michigan  Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil Professor, Deputy Chair, and Residency Program Director Department of Radiation Oncology and Director Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine University of Michigan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Burnout is a syndrome characterized by a sense of decreased personal accomplishment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization. It can lead to increased depression, illness, suicide, and absences from work. Physician burnout has reached epidemic proportions and physician-scientists are not immune from it. They are a critical part of the healthcare workforce who are responsible for translating innovative bench research to the bedside of patients, and in recent years have faced increasing pressures.  (more…)
Annals Internal Medicine, Author Interviews, Outcomes & Safety, Stanford / 08.10.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Daniel Tawfik, MD, MS Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Professional burnout is very common among health care providers and is frequently associated with poor quality of care in the published literature. However, we know that reporting biases are common in many fields of literature, and these biases typically result in exaggerated effects being published relative to the true effect. Research on burnout and quality of care appears especially vulnerable, because many studies are not pre-specified or have several potential methods of analysis. If the studies or analyses with more impressive results are more likely to be published, this would result in a skewed picture of the relationship between burnout and quality of care. (more…)
Author Interviews, Electronic Records / 02.07.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ming Tai-Seale, PhD, MPH Professor Department of Family Medicine and Public Health University of California San Diego School of Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The electronic health record (EHR) potentially creates a 24/7 work environment for physicians. Its impact on physicians’ wellness has become a challenge for most health care delivery organizations. Understanding the relationships between physicians’ well-being and “desktop medicine”1 work in the EHR and work environment is critical if burnout is to be addressed more effectively. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Surgical Research, UCSF / 27.05.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Carter Lebares, MD Assistant Professor of Surgery Director, Center for Mindfulness in Surgery Department of Surgery, UCSF  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  Response: This study was inspired by extensive evidence of the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for mitigating stress and enhancing performance in other high-stress populations like police and the military.  We know that overwhelming stress is related to burnout and to cognitive errors - two critical issues within surgery, today. This prompted us to tailor and streamline an MBI specifically for surgeons, and to test it in our trainees. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Neurology, NYU / 17.05.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Rebecca Stainman Dr. Arielle Kurzweil MD Adult Neurology Program Director New York University School of Medicine NYU Langone Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Physician burnout is prevalent. Neurologists have among the highest burnout rates, ranked third among specialties in a 2011 study, and over half of US Neurologists report at least 1 symptom of burnout in a 2016 survey.  Efforts to address burnout in training programs have mostly been aimed at implementing wellness curricula and offering mental health resources. Training neurology residents to effectively identify, address, and help impaired colleagues is equally crucial in these efforts, yet there is a paucity of literature on this topic. We used simulation as a means of addressing this topic, via identifying and addressing an impaired colleague through an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE).  (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Health Care Systems, Outcomes & Safety, University of Pennsylvania / 07.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jeffrey H. Silber, MD, PhD Director, Center for Outcomes Research Nancy Abramson Wolfson Endowed Chair Health Services Research Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Professor of Health Care Management Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This was a year-long randomized trial that involved 63 internal medicine residency programs from around the US.  In 2015-2016, about half of the programs were randomized to follow the existing rules about resident duty hours that included restrictions on the lengths of shifts and the rest time required between shifts (the standard arm of the trial) and the other half of the programs didn’t have those shift length or rest period rules (the flexible arm of the trial).  We measured what happened to the patients cared for in those programs (the safety study), and other studies examined how much sleep the residents received, and how alert they were at the end of shifts (the sleep study), and previously we published on the educational outcomes of the interns. To measure the impact on patient outcomes when allowing program directors the ability to use a flexible shift length for their interns, we compared patient outcomes after the flexible regimen went into place to outcomes the year before in the same program. We did the same comparison for the standard arm. Then we compared the difference between these comparisons. Comparing before and after the implementation of the trial within the same program allowed us to be more confident that a particularly strong or weak program, or a program with especially sick or healthy patients, would not throw off the results of the study. The trial was designed to determine, with 95% confidence, if the flexible arm did not do more than 1% worse than the standard arm. If this were true for the flexible arm, we could say the flexible regimen was “non-inferior” to the standard regimen. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, JAMA, Mental Health Research, UCSF / 31.01.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christina Mangurian, MD MAS Professor Department of Psychiatry, Weill Institute for Neurosciences Center for Vulnerable Populations, University of California, San Francisco Veronica Yank, MD Assistant Professor Division of General Internal Medicine Department of Medicine University of California San Francisco MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This article is about the behavioral health and burnout consequences among physician mothers who are caring for seriously ill loved ones. Our work was inspired, in part, by some of the authors’ own experiences caring for loved ones with serious illnesses while also being physician mothers themselves.  We sought to determine the proportion of physician mothers with such caregiving responsibilities beyond their patients and children and the how these additional responsibilities affected the women’s health and practice. (more…)
Author Interviews, Electronic Records / 06.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rebekah L Gardner MD Associate Professor of Medicine Warren Alpert Medical School Brown University Providence, Rhode Island MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Burnout profoundly affects physicians, their patients, and the health care system.The role of technology in physician burnout, specifically health information technology (HIT), is not as well characterized as some of the other factors. We sought to understand how stress related to HIT use predicts burnout among physicians. Our main findings are that 70% of electronic health record (EHR) users reported HIT-related stress, with the highest prevalence in primary care-oriented specialties. We found that experiencing HIT-related stress independently predicted burnout in these physicians, even accounting for other characteristics like age, gender, and practice type. In particular, those with time pressures for documentation or those doing excessive “work after work” on their EHR at home had approximately twice the odds of burnout compared to physicians without these challenges. We found that physicians in different specialties had different rates of stress and burnout. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Outcomes & Safety / 07.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Maria Panagioti, Senior Research Fellow Division of Population Health Health Services Research & Primary Care University of Manchester Manchester  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Several studies have shown that the demanding work environment has alarming consequences on the well-being of physicians. Over 50 percent of physicians experience significant signs of burnout across medical specialities. However, the consequences of burnout on patient care are less well-known. This is the largest meta-analysis to date which pooled data from 43,000 doctors to examine the relationship between burnout in physicians and patient safety, professionalism and patient satisfaction. We found that burnout in physicians is associated with two times increased risk for patient safety incidents, reduced professionalism and lower patient satisfaction. Particularly in residents and early career physicians, burnout was associated with almost 4 times increased risk for reduced professionalism.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Neurological Disorders, Neurology, University of Pittsburgh / 30.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Neil A. Busis, M.D. University of Pittsburgh Physicians Department of Neurology Chief of Neurology, UPMC Shadyside Director of Community Neurology MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous studies showed that neurologists have both one of the highest rates of burnout and the lowest rates of satisfaction with work-life balance, compared to other physicians. The mission of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is to promote the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care and enhance member career satisfaction. This is why AAN President Dr. Terrence Cascino initiated this research, to better define the issue. Our findings can guide current and future programs to prevent and mitigate neurologist burnout, promote neurologist career satisfaction and well-being, and direct efforts to advocate on behalf of neurologists and their patients. (more…)
Author Interviews, Outcomes & Safety / 17.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michelle P. Salyers Ph.D. Professor, Psychology Director, Clinical Psychology Program Director, ACT Center of Indiana Affiliated Scientist, Regenstrief Institute, Inc. Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, IN MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Professional burnout among healthcare providers is receiving more attention in research and in public press. There have long been speculations that the level of burnout may be related to quality of care provided, and many studies have been done linking provider burnout with different aspects of quality of care. This study brings together that literature, to summarize and quantify the link between professional burnout in healthcare provider and the quality of care they provide. We were able to combine data from 82 independent samples, across health care disciplines, settings, and types of quality indicators. We found small to medium relationships between provider burnout and indicators of quality of care. (more…)
Author Interviews, Health Care Systems, Lancet, Mayo Clinic / 03.10.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Colin P. West, MD, PhD, FACP Divisions of General Internal Medicine and Biomedical Statistics and Informatics Departments of Internal Medicine and Health Sciences Research Mayo Clinic MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Physician burnout has reached epidemic levels, as documented in national studies of both physicians in training and practicing physicians demonstrating burnout rates in excess of 50%. Consequences include negative effects on patient care, professionalism, physicians’ own care and safety, and the viability of health-care systems. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to better understand the quality and outcomes of the literature on approaches to prevent and reduce burnout. We identified 2617 articles, of which 15 randomized trials including 716 physicians and 37 cohort studies including 2914 physicians met inclusion criteria. Across interventions, overall burnout rates decreased from 54% to 44%, emotional exhaustion score decreased from 23.82 points to 21.17 points, and depersonalization score decreased from 9.05 to 8.41. High emotional exhaustion rates decreased from 38% to 24% and high depersonalization rates decreased from 38% to 34%. (more…)
Author Interviews, Primary Care / 25.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com interview with: Diane Hayes, Ph.D., President and co-founder, InCrowd Areal time market intelligence service to the life sciences MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this survey? Response: Physician burnout is a significant concern across the healthcare continuum, as Affordable Care Act (ACA) measures change the nature of doctoring, and as at least 30 major teaching hospitals at least 30 major teaching hospitals undertake initiatives aimed at reducing burnout ahead of its potential impact on patient safety and quality outcomes. Numerous studies have documented the issue. We thought it would be instructive to use InCrowd’s mobile microsurvey platform for a mid-year snapshot of burnout sentiment. The microsurvey used the Maslach Burnout Inventory of symptoms to determine respondents who could be considered to be experiencing burnout—the same index as used by the widely cited Mayo Clinic and MedScape studies. We also asked if facilities are addressing the issue, a topic not always covered. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Nursing / 16.09.2015

Chiara Dall'Ora MSc Nursing and Midwifery Sciences University of SouthamptonMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chiara Dall'Ora MSc Nursing and Midwifery Sciences University of Southampton  Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There is a trend for healthcare employers to adopt longer shifts, typically 2 shifts per day each lasting 12 hours. This allows nurses to work fewer shifts each week. Changes are driven by perceived efficiencies for the employer, and anecdotal reports of improved work life balance for employees because they work fewer days per week. However, it is unclear whether these longer shits adversely affect nurses' wellbeing, in terms of burnout, job dissatisfaction, dissatisfaction with work schedule flexibility and intention to leave the job. We found that when nurses work 12 h shifts or longer they are more likely to experience high burnout, dissatisfaction with work schedule flexibility and intention to leave their job, compared to nurses working 8 h or less. All shifts longer than 8 hours are associated with nurses' job dissatisfaction. (more…)
Author Interviews, Psychological Science / 09.08.2015

Andrew P. Hill, Ph.D, CPsychol, FBASES, FHEA Associate Professor and Head of Taught Postgraduate Programmes Faculty of Health and Life Sciences York St John University York UKMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Andrew P. Hill, Ph.D, CPsychol, FBASES, FHEA Associate Professor and Head of Taught Postgraduate Programmes Faculty of Health and Life Sciences York St John University York UK Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Hill: Our research examines the effects of perfectionism in a wide range of contexts and for a number of outcomes. We are particularly interested in the perfectionism-burnout relationship. Perfectionism is a characteristic that is more common than you might think, everyone seems to know someone who is a perfectionist. Burnout is the result of stress and, anecdotally, people seem to be finding modern life more stressful. The main finding was that perfectionistic concerns, a core feature of perfectionism that reflects doubts and fears relating to the consequences of failure, was positively related to burnout in the workplace, sport, and education. This relationship was stronger in the workplace. (more…)