The role of personal accomplishment in physician burnout

Physician burnout is on the rise, but providing an environment that boosts doctors’ sense of personal accomplishment and increases professional rewards could help them feel less emotionally exhausted and more energized about their daily work. Experts say it is one of a number of areas that need to be addressed to reverse the burnout trend. Less personal satisfaction Nearly 55 percent of physicians who responded to a Mayo Clinic survey in 2014 were professionally burned out, up from nearly 46 percent just three years earlier, according to the study in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. When asked specifically about their sense of personal accomplishment, 16.3 percent of physicians had a low sense of personal accomplishment in 2014; just 12.4 percent felt that way in 2011. A major driver of physician satisfaction, study authors said, comes from a sense of providing excellent care for patients. “That is why we went to medical school,” said one of the study’s authors, Christine Sinsky, MD, vice president of professional satisfaction at the AMA. “So anything that gets in the way of taking care of patients takes away from a sense of personal satisfaction.” And there’s a lot that gets in physicians’ way of taking care of patients these days: chaotic work environments, lack of control in their work environment and time pressures, to name a few. Transferring administrative tasks away from physicians helps doctors’ sense of satisfaction, Dr. Sinsky said: “This...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news