The medical practice is a vital practice that helps mankind across the globe. It is because of it that people can find solutions to their health problems. People in this profession are known as physicians. There are different kinds of physicians that deal with different health issues and with different groups of patients. For you to be physician you have to go through a thorough training. Physicians also take an oath to save lives in any condition at any place. They are, therefore, useful people for their noble contribution to mankind.
Each kind of profession has their downside. Physicians do not have a smooth ride in their profession as well. Their workdays are always packed with patient appointments, they are faced with time pressures, and often demanding pace because they have to attend to a number of patients. Physicians will also suffer fatigue and emotional intensity. These situations and the overall work environment leads to physician burnout.
Physician burnout is considered to be a long term stress reaction that affects physicians and other clinicians. Most of the time, physician burnout leads to depersonalization where the physician develops a negative and callous attitude towards their patients and care more about the concerns the patient may have. Physician burnout can also lead to emotional as well as physical exhaustion. The medical personnel get worn out and drained by work and may not even get to recover at the time they are not working. Exhaustion is the common outcome for physicians that suffer from burnout. Physician burnout can also be marked by lacking a sense of accomplishment since the physician will feel like they have less or even nil personal accomplishment. The doctor will view their work negatively and one that adds no value.
Physician burnout is threatening the medical profession in a number of ways. It affects patients access to health care. The safety of patients at the hands of physicians that experience physician burnout is questionable. The quality of healthcare also goes down since physicians are not dedicated in their profession. You may have seen that most doctors that are affected by burnout may decide to quit practicing medicine and find something else to do. This leads to less physician s handling many patients. The remaining physicians will also suffer from burnout because they have to work a lot. The medical profession may end up without doctors and this will affect healthcare provision negatively. Burnout also causes the doctor to have impaired attention and poor execution of medical functions.
It is vital that physician burnout is addressed with urgency by various interested personnel. You need to be aware of the fact that when you are getting the medical qualification, no one ever taught you to deal with physician burnout. That is why it has affected the medical profession negatively for a long time. To effectively deal with physician burnout, doctors should have flexible schedules that can allow them to attend to other urgent matters. It is also vital for the doctors to be given more time to do other rhinos by employing more doctors. Emphasis should also be placed on work-life balance since doctors have families to take care of and spend time with. Doctors should also be supported by being assisted in data entry, communication, and other miscellaneous activities.