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Healthcare Worker Wellbeing is Emerging as a Significant Occupational Health Issue
By some estimates , the healthcare sector stands to lose onethird of its workforce due to burnout as well as moral distress and injury triggered by pre-existing factors that were exacerbated by the pandemic .”
By Kelly M . Pyrek
While classic elements of occupational health remain vital , one related issue is pushing itself to the forefront due in part to the pandemic : healthcare worker wellbeing .
By some estimates , the healthcare sector stands to lose one-third of its workforce due to burnout as well as moral distress and injury triggered by pre-existing factors that were exacerbated by the pandemic . For example , the American Hospital Association ( AHA , 2022 ) warns that 22 percent of nurses may leave their current position providing direct patient care within the next year . According to these nurses , the top three factors influencing their decision to leave are insufficient staffing levels , the demanding nature / intensity of the workload , and the emotional toll of the job . More than 60 percent of physicians say they experience frequent , severe burnout . The AHA ( 2022 ) also reports that 62 percent of healthcare professionals say that worry or stress related to the pandemic has a negative impact on their mental health .
Addressing healthcare personnel wellbeing and the variable of healthcare professionals ’ emotional exhaustion as a predictive metric of clinical and operational outcomes are experts from Duke University ’ s Center for Healthcare Safety and Quality in a study published last year .
In their review , psychologist J . Bryan Sexton , PhD , director of the Duke Center for Healthcare Safety and Quality , and his co-authors Kyle Rehder , MD , and Kathryn C . Adair , PhD , examined the state of the science regarding healthcare worker wellbeing , including how it is measured , what outcomes it predicts , and what institutional and individual interventions may reduce it .
While the healthcare profession provides immense rewards , it poses significant challenges and can take its toll on the physical and mental health of its practitioners – a trend requiring attention that is gaining traction . As Sexton and his colleagues ( 2021 ) acknowledge , “ Before the global pandemic of 2020 placed an even greater strain on busy and stressed healthcare workers , the impact and consequences of healthcare burnout had already captured the attention of national and international healthcare leaders .”
Despite a proliferation of anecdotal evidence , however , the medical literature has not kept pace , and as Sexton , et al . ( 2021 ) point out , “ The alarm bells have rung loudly for several years in fact , but the existing peer-reviewed literature does not provide a clear road map for leaders struggling to make evidence-based decisions .” They add , “ Remarkably , out of more than 16,000 published articles on burnout in the medical literature , there are fewer than 50 randomized controlled trials focused on interventions to improve burnout in healthcare workers .”
Sexton says healthcare leaders are struggling to get a grip on what they see as a rising tide of worker wellbeing concerns that jeopardize operations and patient outcomes .