Tag: burnout

Could Medical Scribes Be A Cure to Physician Burnout?

While there is no easy cure-all for burnout, the results of a new study indicate that utilizing medical scribes to assist with EHR documentation could help.

Time-consuming EHR documentation is a burden that is consistently found to be linked to increased physician documentation workload, and, in turn, physician burnout. Could the use of medical scribes alleviate that burden for physicians, improve productivity and patient communication, and enhance job satisfaction among physicians. A study published this month in JAMA Internal Medicine aimed to find out the answer to that question, and their conclusion is a resounding yes.

The 12-month crossover study randomly assigned eighteen primary care physicians to start the first three-month period of the study with or without scribes, and then had alternated exposure to scribes every three months over the course of the year. At the end of each study period, physicians completed a survey. Meanwhile, the researchers also surveyed patients of participating primary care physicians after scribed clinic visits.

Findings indicated that compared with periods that were not scribed, scribed periods were linked to less self-reported after-hours EHR documentation by physicians (<1 hour per day). Scribed physicians also self-reported that they spent more than 75% of the visit interacting with the patient and less than 25% of the visit on a computer. Patients also reported encouragingly in regards to the presence of medical scribes, with 61% of surveyed patients saying that scribes had a positive bearing on their visits and only 2.4% of them indicating a negative bearing.

While there is no easy cure-all for burnout, the results of this study certainly indicate that there are ways to help lessen the burdens thrust upon physicians by EHRs, and one of those is the utilization of medical scribes.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Majority of Physicians Pessimistic about the Future of Medicine, New Report Finds

The results of the sixth biennial Survey of America’s Physicians have been released, and the findings can only be described as startling.

The Physicians Foundation has released the results of their sixth biennial Survey of America’s Physicians, and the findings are startling.

The survey “took the pulse” of nearly 9,000 U.S. physicians across the country, and examined, at its heart, what they think about the current state of the medical profession.

Over all, the findings indicate being a physician is an evolving medical profession, which continues to struggle with issues of burnout and low morale, despite more physicians now working fewer hours and seeing fewer patients.

Below are some key findings from the report:

  • 62% of physicians are pessimistic about the future of medicine.
  • 55% of physicians describe their morale as somewhat or very negative, which is consistent with findings in previous years.
  • 78% of physicians sometimes, often or always experience feelings of burnout.
  • 80% of physicians are at full capacity or are overextended.
  • 49% of physicians would not recommend medicine as a career to their children.
  • 46% plan to change career paths.
  • 46% of physicians indicate relations between physicians and hospitals are somewhat or mostly negative.
  • Physicians indicated patient relationships are their greatest source of professional satisfaction, while EHRs are their greatest source of professional dissatisfaction.

The survey also includes a portion where physicians are welcome to write in their own comments. Some of those highlighted in the report include:

  • “I could not in good conscience recommend medicine to a young person. It isn’t a profession anymore, it’s a business enterprise. If I had wanted to be a businessman, I’d have taken a less demanding path.”
  • “I am no longer a professional, I am an employee and treated with less respect and consideration than previously.”
  • “As a physician in her late 40’s, I have unfortunately seen the practice of medicine evolve from caring for the patient to caring for the administrator. The focus is on ticking off boxes rather than improving the health of the individual or community.”

Do you think the numbers and comments highlighted here accurately portray the overall sentiment of physicians today?

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

First National Physician Suicide Awareness Day

The day places a priority on mental health awareness in an effort to allow physicians to better care for themselves and their patients

Today is the first ever National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. Founded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to suicide prevention, the day places a priority on mental health awareness in an effort to allow healthcare professionals to better care for themselves and their patients.

It has been found that, on average, one doctor per day will take their own life in the United States, making it the highest suicide rate of any profession and more than twice that of the general population. According to resources provided by the AFSP, suicide generally is caused by the convergence of multiple risk factors — the most common being untreated or inadequately managed mental health conditions.

Suicide is preventable. Help is possible. We encourage any physician that may be struggling with their mental health to seek help.

If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

To learn more about National Physician Suicide Awareness Day, including facts, figures, and scores of resources for physicians, please visit afsp.org/physician.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Nurses Need to Stop “Eating Their Young”

As it was first said in 1986, “nurses eat their young,” and last week, that adage proved true for one young nurse who took her own life. Now is the time to end nurse bullying.

As it was first said by nursing professor Judith Meissner in 1986, “nurses eat their young,” and last week, that adage proved true for one young nurse who took her own life. Rhian Collins, a 30-year-old nurse and mother of two, committed suicide after being bullied by her coworkers at a U.K. psychiatric hospital.

In light of this tragic news, we find it is our responsibility to have a frank and open discussion regarding nurse bullying and suicide. Because, at its core, the nursing profession is a caring one. It takes certain levels of empathy and heart to do what nurses do, day in and day out, and that should not only be reserved for patients, but also for your fellow nurses.

Stress and burnout among nurses are, understandably, pervasive. Shifts are long, hospitals are understaffed, and tensions are high, but to put it in perspective, research suggests that at least 85% of nurses have been bullied at some point in their nursing career, and the number could actually be higher, as it is often speculated that incidents are under-reported. One study has stated that depressive symptoms among nurses clock in at 18%, and another shows that number as high as 41%. Even more alarming, a U.K.-based study published last year found nurses are 23% more likely to commit suicide than women in general, and the BBC has reported that nurses are four times more likely to commit suicide than people working outside of medicine.

All of those staggering numbers, and yet, the culture of nurse-on-nurse bullying has not changed much, if at all, since it was first said that “nurses eat their young.” However, there is hope, as many younger nurses have been put through the paces of school-based anti-bullying initiatives as they have grown up and stigmas of mental health issues have began to lessen. But unless and until a different mindset takes over the nursing profession, the problem will persist.

You cannot eat your young and expect them to survive.

We know you are stressed out. We know your hours are long, your back is aching, and you probably didn’t get to have a real lunch break today. We are not negating those stresses in any way. However, it doesn’t take much effort to just be kind—to yourselves and to your fellow nurses. You may just save another life in doing so, and that is what nursing is all about, saving lives.

If you are having thoughts of hurting yourself or others, we encourage you to seek help by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or by texting 741741 to have a conversation with a trained crisis counselor via the Crisis Text Line.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Major Medical Errors Linked to Physician Burnout

Medical errors are a major source of inpatient deaths in the United States, and now physician burnout has been linked to a higher risk of medical errors.

Medical errors are a major source of inpatient deaths in the United States, responsible for about 100,000 to 200,000 deaths yearly, and as it has been heavily reported, physician burnout is a national epidemic. But what is the correlation between medical errors and burnout, if any? According to a study led by Stanford researchers and published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings last month, the correlation may be more significant than one might think, as the results have found physician burnout may cause more medical errors than unsafe medical workplace conditions.

The study compiled survey results from 6,695 physicians nationwide, who were asked to respond to 60 questions on topics including fatigue, burnout, thoughts of suicide, and workplace safety.

Of the respondents, 3,574 (55%) reported symptoms of burnout, and 10.5% reported a self-perceived major medical error in the previous three months. Errors were most frequently categorized as an error in judgment (39.2%), a wrong diagnosis (20.0%), or a technical mistake (13.0%), and the highest prevalence of medical errors was reported by physicians working in radiology (23.3%), neurosurgery (21.8%), and emergency medicine (21.4%).

“We found that physicians with burnout had more than twice the odds of self-reported medical error, after adjusting for specialty, work hours, fatigue and work unit safety rating,” the researchers said. “High burnout, even in an excellent safety environment, is nearly as risky as no burnout in a unit that had a poor safety grade.”

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Physicians Are Burning out, but Unlikely to Seek Help

Despite more than half of physicians surveyed admitting they have experienced burnout, 67% said they have never met with a mental health professional.

Physician burnout is a deeply alarming and widespread problem in healthcare. We don’t have to tell you, however. According to a recent study conducted by locumstory, the chances are incredibly high that you, as a physician, have seen your fellow physicians experiencing it, or you have felt the effects of it, firsthand.

In a survey of more than 3,700 physicians, located in nearly every region of the country and working in nearly every specialty and setting, 74% of physicians reported seeing symptoms of burnout in their colleagues, while 52% personally admitted to feeling burnt out, and that same percentage (52%) stated that they believe burnout is affecting their job performance. The top two specialties that admitted to seeing burnout in themselves and reported it was affecting their job performance were emergency medicine and psychiatry. Surgeons were the least likely to report feeling burnt out.

The most common burnout symptoms reported were irritability and apathy, and about half of physicians also reported feeling chronic fatigue, as well as impaired memory and attention. A staggering 6% of those surveyed admitted that they have contemplated suicide because of the demands of their profession, and more than 10% said they take medication for anxiety or depression, most of which having claimed their profession contributed to their anxiety or depression.

Even though more than half of those surveyed reported that they have experienced burnout, and 6% admitted suffering suicidal thoughts, physicians are not seeking help. Despite 51% reporting that their workload had impacted their mental health, only 17% of physicians surveyed said they have met with a mental health professional, and even less (16%) have considered it. 67% said they have never met with a mental health professional. One reason for this could be explained by another finding of the study: more than half of physicians (53%) agreed that mental health is a taboo issue.

There is hope, however. Last year, the AMA announced they were adopting a new policy aimed at improving physician and medical student access to mental health care. The new policy is structured around helping reduce stigma associated with mental health illness that could unfairly impact a physician’s ability to obtain a medical license and impede physicians and medical students from receiving care. Additionally, the AMA’s Steps Forward Program, part of their Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainability initiative, which launched in 2011, is a resource designed to improve the health and well-being of patients by improving the health and well-being of physicians and their practices through a series of practice transformation modules.

Most physicians build their careers around saving lives, or at the very least, improving them. That needs to apply to themselves, as well. If you are a physician who is experiencing burn out, we encourage you to consider looking into the Steps Forward Program further, as well as seeking appropriate mental health care. Your lives, and the lives of your patients, depend on it.

To explore mental health resources available to you, please visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help/index.shtml.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

We Have to Recognize Doctors’ Time Is a Limited Resource

There are only 24 hours in the day, and even less in a physician’s workday. What are the solutions to caring for those who care for the masses?

from Becker’s Hospital Review

There are about one million doctors in the U.S. today. There are 24 hours in a day, I’ve been told. The average physician works for close to nine of those hours. So there are nine million hours available in a day to provide medical care to America’s 325 million people. That’s if a physician is not whittling down those nine hours by taking on tasks not directly related to care, like working out insurance paperwork, and the rest.

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Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

What is Driving Physicians to Burnout

Many doctors are always a step away from burnout. But we all chose this profession anyway, because we want to make a difference.

from Dr. Linda

Burnout rates are escalating among physicians, as well as other healthcare workers. In a system that is already stressed by many forces, losing any member of the team can have devastating consequences. Nurses are a prime example of how they are expected to do more and more work with less and less help and resources. Hospitals cut back on their ranks to save money. And patients suffer because of it. Big organizations do not so much care about the health of these nurses who selflessly try to give patients their best. Rather, the bottom line dictates staffing standards.

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Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

We Need Nurses More Than Ever. Why Are We Letting Them Burn Out?

The combination of an exodus of RNs and an influx of aging patients could create a health care crisis.

from Huffington Post

About 10 years ago, Elizabeth Scala was a young RN, working on a psychiatric floor of a busy Maryland hospital. She’d been in the role for two or three years, and she’d risen to a position of authority, coordinating her colleagues’ activities as a charge nurse on the unit. From the outside, it looked like she had everything together, but inside she was so stressed out she was nearly falling apart.

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Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

When Insurers Save, Patients and Doctors Pay

As insurers ratchet up utilization management, doctors’ paperwork burden increases and patients must jump through endless administrative hoops to access care.

from The Doctor Weighs In

Health insurance companies excel at devising new ways to reduce their losses, but it is doctors and patients who pay the price for their utilization management strategies. Doctors now spend more time filling out forms than caring for patients. Patients jump through endless administrative hoops to access care. Both have run out of patience and are demanding a return to a healthcare system where doctors, in partnership with their patients, drive patient care decisions.

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Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.