According to WHO, burnout results from chronic workplace stress that has not been managed successfully. In the ICD-11 entry, burnout was filed under problems tied to employment or unemployment.
Burnout is characterized by three dimensions:
feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and
reduced professional efficacy.
However, the diagnosis should exclude adjustment disorder, disorders specifically linked to stress and anxiety- or fear-related disorder.
“Physician burnout has received some attention in recent years, but not enough. As a result, it is both poorly understood and getting worse,” Andrew R. Iliff, MA, JD, lead writer and program manager at Harvard Global Health Institute, told Healio Psychiatry.
In their paper, experts from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the Harvard Global Health Institute, the Massachusetts Medical Society and the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association recommended ways to address the prevalence of burnout among physicians and other health care providers. Recommendations included:
appointing an executive-level chief wellness officer (CWO) at every major health care organization;
providing support for those experiencing burnout; and
improving the efficiency of electronic health records.
“Our ongoing failure to address increasing physician burnout threatens to undermine the provision of care,” Iliff said. “But we have a pretty good idea how to fix it — starting with making physician wellness a top priority at health care organizations and streamlining electronic health records to allow physicians to focus on patient care.” – by Savannah Demko