A new study outlining the results of a survey of attendees at the CPsychI NCHD Conference in 2019, carried out by members of the College Trainee Committee, has been published this week. The paper highlights that lack of supervision is significantly associated with burnout, lower satisfaction at work, and poorer psychological well-being.
Read an excerpt highlighting findings from the research below. You can read the paper in full here.
[L]ack of supervision is significantly associated with burnout, lower satisfaction at work, and poorer psychological well-being. Close evaluation of these areas is important to identify vulnerable individuals and areas of training which can be improved upon, which may lead to relevant measures being implemented for the benefit of psychiatrists, patients, and the wider society.
The importance of well-being in the workplace is being increasingly recognized, and there is a growing interest in the health of doctors, particularly mental health. In addition to obvious benefits for the individual, clinician well-being is an important indicator of quality patient care. Conversely, poor well-being and work stress can lead to suboptimal delivery of patient care, clinician absenteeism, family disruption, depression, and suicide.
Burnout is an important mediator of psychological well-being and is now an established occupational health phenomenon. Burnout is characterized by three domains—exhaustion, increased negativism or emotional detachment in relation to one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy. It has been shown that psychiatrists tend to suffer from higher levels of psychological distress and burnout relative to other physicians, with female and junior psychiatrists among the most vulnerable. Increased rates of burnout have been linked with compassion fatigue, vicarious traumatization, and negative transference—factors highly relevant in the day-to-day work of a trainee psychiatrist. A large European study of psychiatry trainees showed the prevalence of severe burnout at 36.7%, with the risk increased by lack of supervision, longer working hours, junior stage of training, and psychiatry not being their first career choice.
