Physician Burnout – A Slippery Slope
It will come as no surprise to those of us who work with physicians, many are sliding down a slippery slope toward burnout.
Because burnout impacts patient care, it also carries a malpractice risk. Doctors headed toward burnout typically are irritable and abrupt with patients, and they don’t listen. They make mistakes, and mistakes are too often followed by malpractice suits.
Medical Economics addresses this alarming trend in an article entitled Burnout – Are You At Risk?
A family practice physician in California related: "I was irritable in the office as well as at home and unhappy every morning, dreading what the day would bring. My muscles were tight, I was having migraines, I wasn’t sleeping well, and I was drinking in the evening. I saw no end in sight…"
Burnout is a severe state of exhaustion. Typically the result of excessive, prolonged stress, it’s caused by such things as not having control over your workload, feeling unappreciated, and a bad job fit…
Additional Reading
http://www.career-consulting-physicians.com/
blog/index.php?p=159
http://www.career-consulting-physicians.com/
blog/index.php?p=7
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