scholarly journals Frequency and Causes of Burnout in US Community Oncologists in the Era of Electronic Health Records

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e357-e365
Author(s):  
Ajeet Gajra ◽  
Bela Bapat ◽  
Yolaine Jeune-Smith ◽  
Chadi Nabhan ◽  
Andrew J. Klink ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Physician burnout, characterized by exhaustion of physical or emotional strength, cynicism, and lack of achievement, has become a worsening phenomenon in medicine, contributing to higher health care costs and patient/physician dissatisfaction. How burnout has affected hematologists and oncologists is not well studied. METHODS: US community oncologists/hematologists were queried via a Web-based survey from September-November 2018. Physicians were asked about frequency of burnout symptoms, drivers of work-related stress, and their perceptions on management of workload. RESULTS: Among the 163 physicians surveyed, 46% felt a substantial amount of stress at work. Most physicians felt emotionally (85%) and physically (87%) exhausted. A majority of physicians felt lethargic (67%), ineffective (64%), and/or detached (63%). In a typical workweek, 93% needed time beyond time allocated to clinical care to complete work responsibilities. Electronic health record (EHR) responsibilities caused moderate to excessive stress at work for 67% of physicians; 79% of physicians worked on EHRs outside of clinic hours. Other sources of excessive stress were changing reimbursement models (33%), interactions with payers (31%), and increasing patient and caregiver demands (31%). A third of physicians have considered retiring early or changing their career path to cope. To combat burnout, physicians’ practices have used advanced practice providers, invested in information technology, and/or hired additional administrative staff. However, the majority of physicians stated they had optimal or good control over their workload. CONCLUSION: Most oncologists experience burnout symptoms and require additional time beyond that allocated to clinical care to complete their workload. The discordance between oncologists’ admission of stress and exhaustion while claiming good control over those same burdens warrants exploration in future research.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e18375-e18375
Author(s):  
Chadi Nabhan ◽  
Bela Bapat ◽  
Yolaine Smith ◽  
Andrew Klink ◽  
Bruce A. Feinberg

e18375 Background: Physician burnout, which is often characterized as exhaustion of physical or emotional strength because of prolonged stress or frustration, has become a worsening phenomenon in medicine. Some have suggested that the rate of burnout among oncologists may be higher than other specialties. Methods: US oncologists/hematologists were queried via a web-based survey from Sep-Nov 2018. Physicians were asked about frequency of burnout symptoms, drivers of burnout, and management of increasing workload. Results: Among the 163 physicians surveyed, 46.0% felt substantial amount of stress at work. Most physicians felt emotionally (85.3%) and physically (86.5%) exhausted. Majority of physicians felt lethargic (66.9%), ineffective (63.8%), and/or detached (62.6%). Additionally, 57.1% of physicians described their practice atmosphere as busy or very busy. In a typical workweek, 92.6% stated they needed additional time, beyond time allocated to clinical care, to complete work responsibilities (23.3% needed 1-3 hours; 15.3% needed ≥10 hours). Most (81.6%) physicians felt lack of work life balance as one of their main stressors. Electronic health record (EHR) responsibilities caused moderate to excessive stress among 66.9% of physicians, 79.1% physicians worked on EHR at home. Other sources of excessive stress were changing reimbursement models (33.1%), interactions with payers (31.3%), increasing patient and caregiver demands (30.7%). Due to increasing demands, 19.6% physicians have considered retiring early, while 14.7% physicians have considered changing their career path. However, 62.6% of physicians stated they had optimal or good control over their workload. To combat burnout, physicians’ practices have used following strategies: employed APPs (46.0%), invested in information technology (33.1%), and/or hired additional administrative staff (31.3%). Conclusions: Most oncologists in the US experience burnout and require additional time beyond that allocated to clinical care to complete their workload. The discordance between oncologists feeling burdened by stress and exhaustion while claiming good control over those same burdens is noteworthy. Additional follow-up will assess whether remedial strategies are effective.


Author(s):  
Megan Alderden ◽  
Wesley G. Skogan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the correlates of job satisfaction among civilian employees of law enforcement agencies, to assess how features of the policing workplace influence employee morale. Design/methodology/approach – The data for this study were drawn from surveys conducted as part of the National Police Research Platform. In total, 472 civilians from 19 police agencies completed the survey. Findings – The findings indicate that contentment with pay and benefits, lower levels of work-related stress, equality in the workplace, and feelings of acceptance were associated with civilian employee satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – The analyses presented here focusses on factors more unique to policing and did not include all of factors correlated with job satisfaction in past literature. Future research should address this as well as control for the effect of organizational-level factors. Practical implications – The research identifies key factors in each of those categories that inhibit the effective incorporation of civilians into the workforce. It indicates that reaping the full advantages of civilianization is complex and requires attention to fundamental aspects of police organizations. How administrators deal with this reality will impact the efficiency and effectiveness of their organizations in important ways. Originality/value – To date, much of what has been written about the place of civilians in policing consists of descriptions of their numeric representation and discussions of the presumed advantages of hiring them in larger numbers. Less is known about how well civilians have been integrated into the policing workforce.


Author(s):  
Marta Makara-Studzińska ◽  
Krystyna Golonka ◽  
Bernadetta Izydorczyk

The purpose of the study is to analyze the importance of individual resources in firefighting, one of the highest risk professions. Firefighters from 12 different Polish provinces (N = 580; men; M (mean age) = 35.26 year, SD = 6.74) were analyzed regarding the perceived stress at work, burnout, self-efficacy, and a broad range of sociodemographic variables. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), the Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) were used in the study. To explore the relationships between work-related stress, burnout, and self-efficacy, separate regression models for each burnout dimension were analyzed. The results revealed that self-efficacy is a significant moderator that changes the direction and strength of the relationships between perceived stress and psychophysical exhaustion, sense of professional inefficacy, and disillusion. However, self-efficacy did not moderate the relationship between stress and lack of engagement in relationships (relationship deterioration). The results indicate that self-efficacy in firefighters is a crucial personal resource that buffers the impact of perceived stress on most burnout symptoms. It may be concluded that in high risk professions, special attention should be paid to developing self-efficacy as an important part of burnout prevention programs, pro-health activities, and psychoeducation.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 268-271
Author(s):  
Irina-Ionela Rotariu

Abstract It has been previously demonstrated that reducing stress at work means actually reducing risk of illness in life. Occupational distress is one of the most important health problems in the E.U. In Europe, it is on the second place as regards the number of days off and cost. Occupational distress affects one out of three employees in the E.U. Over the last few years, some organizations have worked out programs designed to help all the employees physically and mentally in order to prevent problems related to stressing jobs. All these plans are trying to reduce work-related stress. This article aims at presenting some strategies to prevent and reduce stress at the organizational level and individually.


2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Grabovac ◽  
Jadranka Mustajbegović

Abstract Work has numerous health and wellbeing benefits, but it also involves physical hazards and psychological exertion. Today the scale has tipped toward psychosocial factors. Workers’ mental health affects their intellectual, emotional, and social growth, as well as work ability, productivity, and ultimately organisational productivity and competitiveness on the market. Even though companies may have an internal hierarchy that lowers stress at work, there are other formal and informal social processes that can affect (positively or negatively) the cohesion within the work unit. Safety culture of an organisation is a product of individual and group values, opinions, competences, and behavioural patterns that determine how occupational health and safety are implemented. Organisations that nurture positive safety culture understand the importance of health and safety and believe in prevention rather than dealing with consequences. Jobs that are stable, autonomous, and reasonably physically and psychologically demanding are far more likely to lower work-related stress and boost worker satisfaction. In fact, employee empowerment is one of the best ways to achieve good psychosocial health at the workplace.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 140-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Huey ◽  
Hina Kalyal

Dealing with emotions is a central feature of everyday police work. This is especially the case in relation to criminal investigation work, in which police investigators must grapple with both their own emotions and those of the victims and families with whom they deal. Despite the importance of emotional labor in understanding criminal investigation work, this aspect of their work remains understudied. This study is based on data from 13 in-depth qualitative interviews with members of the Canadian police services. Within it, we explore how officers engage in emotional labor, as well as its impact on these individuals. Although our results are preliminary in nature, they do reveal how managing emotions according to organizationally sanctioned display rules can affect officers’ well-being, and highlight the need for future research to enable police organizations to deal more effectively with this form of work-related stress.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Magallón-Botaya ◽  
◽  
Luis Angel Pérula-de Torres ◽  
Juan Carlos Verdes-Montenegro Atalaya ◽  
Celia Pérula-Jiménez ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Work stress is a common problem among the health personnel of the Spanish National Health System. The objective of this paper is to assess the state of mindfulness among Spanish primary care providers and to evaluate its potential relationship with work stress and basic labor and sociodemographic characteristics. Methods Cross-sectional, multi-centric study. Primary care nurses, teachers, teaching collaborators and residents assigned to six Spanish Family Medicine/Family and Community Care Departments were invited to participate (n = 475). A template was designed in Google Forms, including sociodemographic and work-related variables. The state of mindfulness was measured with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), while work-related stress was measured using an ordinal scale ranging from 0 to 10 points. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were carried out, as well as bivariate and multivariate statistics. Results The mean age of participants was 40,14 ± 13.12 (range:23–65 years); 66.9% were women, 42.5% internal medicine residents, 29.3% family physicians, and 20.2% nurses. More than half (54.5%) knew about mindfulness, with 24.0% have received training on it, and 22.5% were usual practitioners. The average level of mindfulness was 127.18 ± 15.45 (range: 89–177). The average score of stress at work was 6.00 ± 2.44; 49.9% (range: 0–10). 49.9% of participants scored 7 or more on the stress at work scale. There was an inverse correlation between the levels of mindfulness (FFMQ total score) and work-related stress (Spearman’s r = − 0.155, p = 0.003). Significant relationships between the mindfulness practice and the level of mindfulness (F = 29.80, p < 0.001), as well as between the mindfulness practice and the level of work-related stress (F = 9.68, p = 0.042), were also found. Conclusions Levels of mindfulness in primary care health providers were in line with those levels observed in other groups of health professionals. Half of all of the primary care providers suffered from a high degree of stress. Although weak, inverse relationships were observed between levels of mindfulness and stress at work, with lower values of stress at work among those who practiced mindfulness. Trial registration NCT03629457.


2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (59_suppl) ◽  
pp. 49-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Siegrist

Despite reduced health risks in terms of physical and chemical hazards current trends in occupational life continue to contribute to ill health and disease among economically active people. Stress at work plays a crucial role in this respect, as evidenced by recent scientifi c progress. This paper discusses two leading theoretical models of work-related stress, the demand-control model and the model of effort-reward imbalance, and it summarizes available evidence on adverse health effects. As work stress in terms of these models is more prevalent among lower socioeconomic status groups, these conditions contribute to the explanation of socially graded risks of morbidity and mortality in midlife. Implications of this new knowledge for the design and implementation of worksite health-promotion measures are elaborated. In conclusion, it is argued that workplace strategies deserve high priority on any agenda that aims at reducing social inequalities in health.


Author(s):  
Hanae Errhouni ◽  
G. Sundharavadivel

According to the INRS (National Institute for Research and Safety for the Prevention of Accidents at Work and Occupational Diseases), we talk about stress at work when a person feels an imbalance between what is asked to do in the professional setting and the resources available to respond to it. According to WHO (World Health Organization), work-related stress is the set of reactions that employees may have when faced with professional demands and pressures that do not correspond to their knowledge and their abilities and question their ability to cope.


2021 ◽  
Vol 100 (11) ◽  
pp. 1236-1243
Author(s):  
Igor V. Bukhtiyarov ◽  
Eduard I. Denisov ◽  
Evgeny V. Zhovnerchuk ◽  
Vasiliy V. Serikov ◽  
Dmitry E. Khatin ◽  
...  

Introduction. Mental health is an integral part of health, and its disorders are fraught with social and economic costs for the individual and society. According to WHO, depression is the most common disease and the leading cause of disability globally; it affects 350 million people. The analysis of new data and concepts on these issues is relevant. The aim of the work is to study the problem of stress at work and mental health disorders with an analysis of the concept of allostasis and allostatic load as an integral indicator of stress. A literature search was conducted through September 2020 using the Scopus (https://www.scopus.com/home.uri) and MedLine/PubMed (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed) scientific literature databases. Key search terms included “mental health problems,” “mental health in the workplace,” “working condition,” “anxiety,” “burnout,” and “depression. Full-text articles published in English in journals with DOIs were reviewed. There are considered work-related stressors, also called psychosocial risks. Data on the types and amounts of medico-social damage from mental health disorders in European countries and the United States are presented. The Italian experience in limiting work-related stress is reviewed in detail. There are given examples of legislation to restrict psychosocial risks at work in European countries, as well as patterns of recognition of the connection between mental disorders and work. The biomedical paradigm shift - from homeostasis to allostasis - is analyzed, and allostasis and allostatic load is described as integral indicator of chronic work stress. Despite an abundance of work on anxiety and depression, there is no unity in the literature in understanding the mechanisms and stages of mental health disorders from stress at work. It is not clear what better reflects the effects of chronic work-related stress: allostatic stress or metabolic syndrome. Stress, depression and burnout - what is the relation between them? We can discuss a logical chain: occupational risk factors - fatigue, stress - depression, burnout, health disorder, and occupational deformity. The questions of ICD-11, expected to appear in 2021, and, in particular, burnout syndrome, are outlined. The possibilities of information technologies and the Internet in preventing and treating mental health disorders are considered. Conclusions. The increasing role of stress problems in the life of modern society is noted. The methods of psychosocial risk factors limitation and mental health disorders diagnostics need to be developed. Internet-based programs for the preservation and promotion of mental health (e-MentalHealth) are promising.


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