We’re living in an age where medical advances and technology are rapidly progressing. Blockbuster treatments and lifesaving developments make headlines daily. But is the human cost of care delivery reaching unsustainable levels? A new report is once again sounding the alarm about the burnout plaguing healthcare professionals in the U.S., the UK, and beyond.
Feeling Overwhelmed
The research, from Corti and YouGov, reveals that 77% of healthcare professionals in the U.S. and key European markets feel “overwhelmed” in their roles. Looking deeper, 41% report monthly burnout, and 24% say they think about leaving their role on a weekly basis. With such a stark problem in front of us, how can we reimagine how we train and support healthcare professionals?
It’s a problem that came up during a pivotal panel discussion during our latest GDS Group Healthcare Summit. One of our panelists, Dr. David Weisman, the Chief Experience Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals, said, “burnout is not just causing people to leave the field. It’s causing people to have these intense emotional reactions that we’re not addressing.”
It’s Ok Not to Be Ok: Building a Resilient Healthcare Workforce
So, how can the workplace best respond? As our expert panelists shared, the path forward requires innovative approaches to professional development and emotional support. Weisman shared how NYC Health + Hospitals has implemented dedicated support systems.
“We’ve hired staff that aren’t patient-facing. They’re staff-facing. Their only job is to make sure our employees are cared for,” said Weisman.
Fellow panelist Dr. Mohammed Quadri, Vice President of Strategy, Academics, Research & Innovation at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, doubled down on the necessity of the organization to tackle burnout as a business priority. But to tackle it, it must be acknowledged.
“It’s really important for operations leaders to work closely with the clinicians to understand how do we, in real time, diagnose burnout or understand the symptoms? Maybe in the past we weren’t comfortable talking about it. Hopefully what’s happening now is we’re mitigating that by making it ok to speak about it. It’s ok not to be ok.”
Dr. Mohammed Quadri
Only when the business is aware its people are suffering, can it invest in staff wellbeing, taking crucial steps toward building resilience in workers and ensuring sustainable healthcare delivery.
Embracing Tech for Tomorrow’s Challenges
Modern healthcare professional support must integrate not only emotional resilience, but also technology.
“We’re going to need to try to figure out some new ways to really help people deal with the trauma of caring for other humans,” said Dr. Robin Blackstone, another panelist at our session, whose robust background includes extensive surgical experience and work in the MedTech space. Blackstone believes building healthcare workers’ technological proficiency, empowering them to utilize efficiency-enhancing tools including artificial intelligence, will be key in developing resiliency.
“The best physicians in the future will be the ones that use all the technology we can bring to bear whether that’s wearable data, whether that’s early diagnostic data, whether that’s the newest, latest and greatest technology.”
Dr. Robin Blackstone
From Patient-Centered to Person-Centered
It’s clear a profound shift is occurring in how healthcare organizations approach workforce development. This evolution reflects a growing recognition that provider wellbeing is inseparable from patient care quality. We see this transformation clearly as we consider how “patient-centered care” is becoming “person-centered care.”
The future of healthcare depends on our ability to build resilient, well-supported teams capable of delivering exceptional care while maintaining their own wellbeing.
Kelley Iuele, Writer, Editor, Presenter, and GDS Summit Host.
To attend GDS Group’s next Healthcare Summit and learn more about how healthcare leaders are battling burnout, register your interest today.
