Want to Ease Your Patients’ Worries? Take a Vacation

Readers of JUCM News may recall that the World Health Organization officially declared burnout to be a “workplace phenomenon” recently. Now a study conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reveals something that is arguably even more alarming: 74% of Americans—your patients—are worried that the healthcare providers treating them could be suffering from burnout. An even higher percentage (80%) believe that burnout diminishes the quality of care an effective provider can offer. Unfortunately, these concerns lead some to edit themselves in conversations with healthcare providers; 47% said they would choose not to ask questions of a provider they think could be experiencing burnout. If it’s any consolation, the vast majority of respondents (91%) said it’s important for physicians and other providers to engage in self-care as a method of warding off burnout. JUCM tackled this topic from an urgent care perspective some months ago. Give yourself a break and read Provider Burnout is Real; Show Compassion for Yourself in our archive.