#ItsAboutPeople Campaign: Doctor Burnout – Academic Research

Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been increased interest in identifying ways of protecting the mental well-being of healthcare workers (HCWs). Much of this has been directed towards promoting and enhancing the resilience of those deemed as frontline workers. Based on a review of the extant literature, this paper seeks to problematise aspects of how ‘frontline work’ and ‘resilience’ are currently conceptualised.

Medicine (like many others) can be an extremely stressful profession. The pressures faced by clinicians are often related to ‘life and death’ situations that can lead to high levels of stress and distress. Students and trainees in a variety of allied health professions face similar pressures related to study or work environments. The practice of medicine continuously evolves and changes, and so too do the pressures.

Previous literature has highlighted high rates of burnout among doctors and nurses in healthcare settings. Non-clinical and support staff such as administrative, housekeeping and managerial staff are also exposed to the stressors of a health care setting, but fewer studies report on their experiences. Therefore, the aim of this research is to examine occupational stress in all staff working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Ireland and identify risk and protective factors.

One quarter (25%) of non-clinical staff reported moderate burnout; and 37.5% who did not specify their occupation scored moderate on total burnout. The majority of staff (44 or 69.8%) scored ‘low’ for total burnout with just under one third (30.2%) scoring in the ‘moderate’ range and no staff scoring ‘high’ or ‘severe’ for total burnout.

Over half of consultants felt their well-being was reduced during the lockdown, putting them at further risk of burnout. A recent systematic review (Howard et al. 2019 ) concluded that psychiatrists, particularly women, suffered from high levels of burnout and psychological distress. It is notable in this study that a proportion of consultants reported an increase in healthcare worker referrals during the lockdown.

Doctor burnout is an increasingly recognised occurrence that can lead to more serious mental illness (Kealy et al. 2016 ). Burnout is especially prevalent amongst those who are committed to their work, the most vulnerable being “empathic individuals who take patients’ problems to heart” (Nunn, 2017 ). Further to the personal risks associated with burnout, the experience of feeling stuck and burnt out predisposes doctors to deliver suboptimal patient care (Loerbroks et al. 2017 ).

Most had never sought help for burnout or depression (64%), and 10% even considered leaving medicine due to extreme burnout (Hayes et al. 2017 ). Burnout has been found to be strongly associated with depression, suicidal ideation and suicide (Hayes 2018 ; Jovanovic et al. 2019 ; Kane 2019 ).

Most had never sought help for burnout or depression (64%), and 10% even considered leaving medicine due to extreme burnout (Hayes et al. 2017 ). Burnout has been found to be strongly associated with depression, suicidal ideation and suicide (Hayes 2018 ; Jovanovic et al. 2019 ; Kane 2019 ).