(Dr. Bryan J. is a Wapiti physician in Michigan. He was kind enough to share his insights on provider burnout.)
Feel like you are spinning your wheels, less effective at work, emotionally exhausted, or feeling depersonalized? If you find yourself answering yes to any of these questions, then there is a good chance that you are experiencing burnout.
Part of our job as emergency medicine nurses and physicians is to care for patients in their greatest time of need. However, alleviating suffering and curing disease can exact a toll on those who render care, day in and day out, on the frontlines of medicine.
Finding the rewards
One of the costs associated with our professions is a working environment that can be high effort and low reward. This is where we, as healthcare professionals, need to take a moment or two and focus less on the extrinsic rewards of our work (i.e., how am I going to be compensated as a nurse or physician for the work I do?) and place more emphasis on the intrinsic rewards derived from our work. An intrinsic reward may be as simple as receiving a “thank you” from a patient or taking the time to learn a little something about a patient other than why they came to the emergency department at 3:30 AM for a sore tooth.
If you think about it, the extrinsic rewards of our jobs are finite; the intrinsic rewards are limitless. But it is up to each of you to discover what those intrinsic rewards are in order to reap the benefits!
Workplace Culture
I believe that one of the keys to mitigating burnout is a workplace where nurses, physicians, and other healthcare workers actually like one another and enjoy each other’s company. I know that I look forward to going to work and seeing colleagues and fellow coworkers there. A culture of collegiality, respect, and support goes a long way in improving the work experience for us all.
Dr. Bryan J.
Studies show locum providers experience less burnout. Recharge your batteries with Wapiti!