Thirty-five percent to 54 percent of U.S. nurses and physicians show significant symptoms of burnout, according to a report by the National Academy of Medicine.
Burnout is a syndrome characterized by high emotional exhaustion, a high sense of depersonalization and identity loss and a low sense of personal accomplishment from work.
The academy appointed a committee of 17 experts to examine the scientific evidence regarding the causes and consequences of clinician burnout as well as approaches to improve clinician well-being. Over 18 months, the committee developed recommendations to curb burnout.
Here are six of the goals:
1. Create positive work environments that focus on preventing and reducing burnout and fostering clinician well-being.
2. Create learning environments for clinicians that support professional development.
3. Reduce administrative burden from healthcare laws, regulations and policies.
4. Enable the use of health IT to support clinicians in providing high-quality patient care.
5. Provide support by reducing the stigma and barriers associated with getting support to manage and recover burnout symptoms.
6. Invest in research on clinician well-being.