“I'm already beat. The trick is to not let the caring get to you.”
These were the words recently uttered by one of my physician colleagues, referring to the stresses of caring for patients in the world of modern health care. The weariness was clear over the phone. Without missing a step, I responded, “I know. Of course.” It took me weeks to realize that it might be concerning that I immediately empathized with her sense of being submerged and overpowered by an uncaring health care system.
Burnout is a syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism and a pervading sense of professional ineffectiveness. What my colleague was referring to was the pervasive sense that her time with patients was being devalued in favor of other administrative tasks. For those suffering from burnout, patients, caregivers, and other providers are all reduced to objects, or worse, obstacles, rather than people worthy of respect and care. With the problem reaching epidemic levels, it’s no exaggeration to say burnout is the most pressing human resource problem we face in health care today.
[For more of this story, written by Rusha Modi, go to https://www.centerforhealthjou...sures-aren-t-helping]
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