Compassion Fatigue, Physician Burnout and Your Emotional Bank Account

For anyone in the helping professions, Compassion Fatigue is a common occurrence. 

Here is the origin of compassion fatigue, its relationship to physician burnout and what you can do when you recognize it in yourself.

Compassion fatigue is when you find yourself challenged to care about your patients in the way you know is proper and expected in your position. Doctors, nurses, therapists, law enforcement, social workers, military … the list goes on. All these professions rely on some degree of Empathy and Compassion to function at maximum effectiveness.

Dr. Oz, Electronic Medical Records, the 15 minute “Physical” and what it might all mean

Did you see the press coverage for the Dr. Oz show and his “15 Minute Physical” for the citizens of Philadelphia recently?  The headline for the article in Forbes Online Magazine reads

Stop Being a Victim of Your Medical Career – Why Venting will NEVER be enough

Doctor’s Pathologic Venting on the internet is one of the reasons I started TheHappyMD.com.

Venting is a SYMPTOM of BEING A VICTIM … there are much more effective actions you can take when you feel a need to Vent.

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Here’s what happened …

Several months ago, I joined the physician-only network at Sermo.com. In my first week as a member, I read a post where a very popular member of the community described a vivid fantasy of using a nail gun on a “malingering” patient. The title of the post was, “My Ideal Office Fantasy”.

Bucket List – Three Steps to Living Your List Now

A Bucket List is the list of things you want to do, places you want to see, things you want to accomplish before you “kick the bucket”. These are the things you REALLY want to do in the time that you have left … so you can die with a smile on your face.

Part Time Doctor beats Full Time Burnout

One of the most common stressors of docs in our so-called health care “system” is the sheer toxicity of full time hours. While most of the rest of the world considers full time to be 40 hours a week. We all know a full time doc starts at 80 plus … if you include all the hours you must be available on call.

Death with Dignity in a Busy Emergency Room

In our modern hospital environment, death with dignity can be difficult to accomplish. So often the conversations that would lead to a death with dignity are missed or avoided — with tragic consequences.

Here is a story from my own personal experience of a death with dignity in the midst of a busy Emergency room … a setting where death with dignity is the very last thing on most people’s mind.

Doctor Jokes – Foxworthy Style

The comedian Jeff Foxworthy is famous for a series of jokes he calls, “You might be a Redneck if …”. They are funny because they hit very close to home … if you are a Redneck.

Healthcare Social Media is a Waste of Time (or worse) for Most Physicians

Healthcare Social Media is all the rage these days. You can’t visit even one physician-oriented website without someone breathlessly advising you to be on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube … and now Pinterest. Yet the only reason these talking heads can give you is, “because they are really popular and everyone is doing it.”