scholarly journals Surgeon Burnout: Defining, Identifying, and Addressing the New Reality

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (06) ◽  
pp. 407-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Senturk ◽  
Nelya Melnitchouk

AbstractSurgeon wellness is a multidimensional commitment that encompasses occupational, mental, physical, emotional, and social domains. Loss of professional control, autonomy, and flexibility; inefficient processes; disjointed workplace relationships and goals; excessive administrative burdens; poor work–life balance; and frustrations with medical record and order entry systems have all been associated with burnout. Described as a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and loss of a sense of personal accomplishment, burnout can have myriad untoward consequences. The strong link between surgeons' personal and professional identities can lead to a perfect storm of burnout, depression, compromised patient safety and quality of care, physician job loss and career dissatisfaction, substance abuse, damage to personal relationships, and suicide. The alarming scope of this problem cannot be confined to a single specialty or practice setting and is expected to increase without much needed changes to surgeon work practices and work environments. A heightened focus on wellness in the workplace with attention to improving workflow, scheduling, collaboration, and resource allocation is a welcome step taken by several institutions and championed by professional societies. Much more research is needed to reliably gauge the overall effectiveness of these approaches, further address the nuances of burnout as it applies specifically to surgeons, and ensure that members of the surgical workforce remain at their peak throughout the duration of their careers.

Author(s):  
Krista Schultz ◽  
Sharan Sandhu ◽  
David Kealy

Objective The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between the quality of the Patient-Doctor Relationship and suicidality among patients seeking mental health care; specifically, whether patients who perceive having a more positive relationship with primary care physician will have lower levels of suicidality. Method Cross-sectional population-based study in Greater Vancouver, Canada. One-hundred ninety-seven participants were recruited from three Mental Health Clinics who reported having a primary care physician. Participants completed a survey containing questions regarding items assessing quality of Patient-Doctor Relationship, general psychiatric distress (K10), borderline personality disorder, and suicidality (Suicidal Behaviours Questionnaire-Revised-SBQ-R). Zero-order correlations were computed to evaluate relationships between study variables. Hierarchical regression analysis was used to control for confounding variables. Results The quality of the patient doctor relationship was significantly negatively associated with suicidality. The association between the quality of the patient-doctor relationship and suicidality remained significant even after controlling for the effects of psychiatric symptom distress and borderline personality disorder features. Conclusions The degree to which patients’ perceive their primary care physician as understanding, reliable, and dedicated, is associated with a reduction in suicidal behaviors. Further research is needed to better explicate the mechanisms of this relationship over time.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abdelghani ◽  
Hayam M. El-Gohary ◽  
Eman Fouad ◽  
Mervat S. Hassan

Abstract Background Physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic are working under relentless stress. This study aimed to identify the impact of the perceived fears of COVID-19 virus infection on the quality of life and the emergence of burnout syndrome among physicians in Egypt during the COVID-19 outbreak. This cross-sectional study was conducted between May 10th and June 9th, 2020, and included 320 Egyptian physicians who were working during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were interviewed using the Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Maslach Burnout Inventory, and World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF) for assessment of the perceived fears of COVID-19 virus infection, associated anxiety and depressive symptoms, burnout symptoms, and quality of life, respectively. Results Overall, most physicians were females (63%). Ideas about death, moderate-to-severe anxiety, and depressive symptoms were reported by 11, 28, and 29% of physicians, respectively. For burnout symptoms, high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment were reported by 20, 71, and 39% of physicians, respectively. The perceived fear of COVID-19 virus infection was positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and burnout emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization symptoms, and negatively correlated with personal accomplishment and all quality of life domains. Conclusions Egyptian physicians experienced higher levels of COVID-19-related fears, anxiety, and depressive and burnout symptoms. There was a robust correlation between these perceived fears, and higher burnout symptoms, and poor quality of life among physicians. Specific interventions should be tailored to minimize the physical and mental burdens on the physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Golabi ◽  
M. B. Alizadeh Aghdam ◽  
H. Akbarian ◽  
M. M. Hosseini Mazraehshadi

Abstract Background: Occupational burnout among nurses is one of the major factors which affect the quality of nursing care. Assessing the relationship between burnout and its associated factors is one of the most basic things that should be done so that later, actions can be taken to reduce burnout. Fear of COVID-19 is one of the factors that can increase burnout of nurses during the Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic.Aim: To investigate the relationship between job burnout and fear of COVID-19 among ICU and CCU nurses.Methods: The Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) were distributed to ICU and CCU nurses (n = 170) at Shahid Madani Cardiac Hospital, Tabriz, Iran, and the correlation between job burnout and fear of COVID-19 was calculated.Results: The results show that the level of emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment among participants of this study is average, and depersonalization is at a low level. Also, the level of fear of coronavirus is below average among the respondents. The research showed that emotional exhaustion and fear of COVID-19 were positively correlated (p < 0.05), but there was not any significant correlation between depersonalization and fear of Coronavirus; as the relationship between reduced personal accomplishment and fear of COVID-19. In addition, there were significant correlations between age and reduced personal accomplishment, as well as marital status and reduced personal accomplishment (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the results showed that there were not any significant correlations between gender and burnout dimensions, nor between educational degree and burnout dimensions.Conclusion: As job burnout reduces the quality of nursing care, managers must take strategies that reduce job burnout. One of the strategies that they can take is to reduce the fear of COVID-19 by taking wise strategies.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Peter Scaccia ◽  
Brittany Cook ◽  
Abraham Wandersman

Readiness to implement an innovation (defined as a policy, program, or practice that is new to the organization) is necessary for quality implementation. By deliberately attempting to build readiness, there is potential to improve how programs implementation innovations. This article presents the results of a research synthesis that reviewed 1) how readiness has been addressed in the literature (e.g., are multiple subcomponents addressed in the same study?), 2) how changeable the different components (motivation, innovation-specific capacities, and general capacities) and sub-components of readiness are when deliberately targeted by supportive interventions (tools, training, technical assistance (TA), quality assurance and quality improvement (QA/QI)), and 3) the quality with which support strategies to address readiness are reported. Articles included in the synthesis generally reported targeting some, but not all, of the readiness subcomponents during implementation. Nearly all subcomponents can be increased, although there is variation in the quality of evidence supporting how changeable they are. However, there is little reported data about how well support strategies are implemented, which can inhibit the replication of specific techniques. These results can encourage support system providers who work with community-based organizations to think about how they can address and prioritize subcomponents of organizational readiness when adopting, implementing, and sustaining innovations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 94 (1110) ◽  
pp. 238-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Robin Taylor ◽  
Calvin J Lightbody

The provision of healthcare is being challenged by a ‘perfect storm’ of forces including an increasing population with multiple comorbidities, high expectations and resource limitations, and in the background, the pre-eminence of the ‘curative medical model’. Non-beneficial (futile) treatments are wasteful and costly. They have a negative impact on quality of life especially in the last year of life. Among professionals, frequent encounters with futility cause moral distress and demoralisation. The factors that drive non-beneficial treatments include personal biases, patient-related pressures and institutional imperatives. Breaking loose from the perceived necessity to deliver non-beneficial treatment is a major challenge. Curative intent should give way to appropriateness such that curative and palliative interventions are valued equally. Goals of treatment should be shaped by illness trajectory, the risk of harms as well as potential benefits and patient preferences. This strategy should be reflected in professional training and the design of acute services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 245-262
Author(s):  
Lara Haikal ◽  
Ève Boissonnault ◽  
Mathieu Boudier-Revéret ◽  
Jehane H Dagher

OBJECTIVE: To understand dancers’ perception of accessibility to care and quality of the relationship with healthcare practitioners in Quebec; to identify the key elements of an optimal dancer–physician relationship; and to propose recommendations for improvement. METHODS: An online questionnaire consisting of multiple choice, “yes/no,” and short answer questions was sent to professional dance organizations, companies, agencies, and schools in Quebec, Canada. Information regarding the dance artists’ sociodemographics, dance background, dance-related injuries, and access to a primary care physician were collected. Experiences and expectations regarding the dancer–physician relationship were surveyed. One-way ANOVA analyses and Pearson correlations were performed to assess differences of perception between dancers’ demographic characteristics and associations between the variables. RESULTS: Out of 161 participants, 144 met inclusion criteria, consisting of largely French-speaking females, North American or European decent, self-employed contemporary dancers with an average age of 33.13 ± 10.81 yrs. Dance artists sought medical care from osteopaths (47.9%) and physiotherapists (36.1%) more frequently than from physicians (8.3%). Fully employed dancers had more favorable perceptions of the dancer–physician relationship compared to self-employed dancers and those who had mixed streams of income. The perception of most participants was that physicians do not comprehend the unique dance-associated impacts on health (81.8%). The most important aspect affecting perception of the relationship with the physician was diagnostic acumen (41.3%). Most participants (79.0%) selected “works with other health professionals [...] and gives expert advice” as an important expectation from physicians. CONCLUSION: This research is the first investigation of the dancer–physician relationship in Quebec. It reveals a desire amongst the dance artist community to improve the dancer–physician relationship and the overall quality of their unique healthcare requirements.


Author(s):  
Elizabeth Frank ◽  
Gloria Aznar Fernández-Montesinos

With a rapidly growing world population, urban populations are estimated to increase significantly over the next decades. This trend is reason for concern since the planet's resources are limited, and climate change is inherent. This chapter focusses on the question about whether new technologies employed in smart cities can be the answer to current and future needs of a city population. Cutting-edge technological advances are reshaping our ecosystem; transforming society, living, and work environments; transport systems; energy grids; healthcare; communications; businesses; and education. How can cities respond to the multitude of challenges by employing technology and at the same time ensure the public well-being, improve the quality of life of city inhabitants, and make sure that the human is still at the center of decisions?


Author(s):  
Eric A. Harris ◽  
Keith Candiotti

Cancer continues to be a leading cause of death in the developed world, with physicians and scientists constantly devising new weapons to combat it. Chemotherapy, surgery, nutrition, and holistic medicine all have a place in the multimodal approach that can prolong longevity and ameliorate quality of life. As part of this armamentarium, radiation therapy (XRT) has proven to be a safe and effective technique for the management of various malignant (and occasionally nonmalignant) lesions. XRT can be used for both curative and palliative purposes; in the latter case, patients benefit from decreased pain, preserved organ function, and the maintenance of lumen patency in hollow organs.1 The medical team, led by a radiation oncologist, often includes a physicist, a dosimetrist, several radiation therapists (technologists), and the patient’s primary care physician.2 Anesthesiologists are increasingly being asked to join this team, as our services are recognized as a vital component for patient safety and comfort.


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