The Relationship Between Physician Burnout, Stress and Performance - Video Training
In the Burnout Proof Live Training I always field the question, "Isn't stress a good thing too?". Here's the answer ...
It depends
Stress can motivate or destroy performance. It can drive a physician to do the best for their patients becoming the personification of the Hippocratic Oath ... or leave them curled on the floor in the fetal position too burned out to take another step. It does all of these things depending on where you are on the Stress vs. Performance Curve.
Here is a short video training on the relationship between Physician Burnout, Stress and Performance
LEADERS TAKE NOTE:
The stress versus performance curve has massive implications for physician leaders.
In this article you will learn why Physician Burnout is a Physician Leadership Issue and what to do when you realize no one is coming to rescue you.
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In articles and comments all over the internet, physicians do the same thing - blame, justify and complain about the work stresses we are under.
It is a futile show of frustration despite the fact that our concerns are legitimate.
On average 1 in 3 physicians are suffering from symptomatic burnout on any give office day. New levels of work stress seem to pile on each week. You can feel the longing to be rescued.
It is as if we are locked high in the castle tower, at the mercy of our evil captors - EMR, ICD-10 and Obamacare. Surely the king of everything that is right has dispatched a brave night to free us.
We shake our fists and ask "who is going to do something about this?" We dream of being rescued from these days of drudgery. This is not what we thought our practice would be like back in training.
All of these concerns are true and valid. AND understand one thing ...
Complaining and dreaming of a rescue is Playing the Victim - Pure and Simple
There is no brave knight coming to save you or anyone else
This only distracts you from Saving Yourself
Let me set a framework for addressing burnout effectively - the straightest path to meaningful change in your work day and your organization.
In the end you will see that Burnout is a Physician Leadership issue.
9 Reasons Physicians Hate EMR - Findings from the 2013 RAND/AMA Physician Satisfaction Study
Hot off the Presses. The results of the Physician Satisfaction Study sponsored by the RAND corporation and the AMA became available this week and all 152 pages are a treasure trove of information on how to lower stress, prevent physician burnout and create more satisfaction in your organization.
In short ... this is the Physician's "Love It/Hate It" list for the Clinical Practice of Medicine here in 2013
EHR Implementation Struggles and 3 Ways to Do It Well
In this article, I will share three important concepts that will take a lot of the struggle out of your EHR implementation. Each one of these are simple to implement and produce immediate results.
Let's face it ... doctors don't like documentation requirements no matter what form they take. Remember back to the days of paper charts for a moment ... you hated those too ... piles of them on your desk and sometimes on the office floor ... reminding you of the visits you still needed to remember and document.
The Electronic Health Record takes away the piles ... and puts a whole bunch of new stresses on us to keep our charts complete. Are things worse than in the days of paper? A significant number of physicians say yes
Medscape published an article this week titled, “4 Top Complaints of Employed Doctors” and it was a very interesting read. Turns out the things employed physicians complain about are basically that they are employees! Go Figure …
Let me lay out these employed physicians gripes for you with a little detail so you will see what I mean. I will finish this article with a solid way to address all of them. These gripes are basically a cry for effective Physician Leadership.
Although the numbers are not exact, these days about half of doctors are employed physicians, either by a hospital, a medical group or a larger healthcare system. That number is rising pretty rapidly as the industry consolidates to grab the bonus pools soon available to groups large enough to qualify as ACO’s.
Are Physicians the Canary in the Coal Mine of Medicine?
Back in the day, coal miners always carried a canary with them in a small cage whenever they would go down in the mine. The canary is a very talkative bird, always singing and tweeting in a constant background noise. Canaries have one more characteristic important to a miner.
When there is bad air in the mine, the canary’s sensitive lungs will cause it to drop over dead before the miners notice any shortness of breath. When the bird stops singing … the miners head for the surface … fast. It is a life saving maneuver.
Physician Burnout vs. Normal Stress => How can you tell the difference between the “normal stress” of being a doctor and when you are experiencing Physician Burnout?
Physician Leadership POWER UP for your BID Team Huddle
- De-stress your day - Get your work done more easily … and get your Team to take on more of the work load happily … with this POWER TRAINING for your BID Team Huddle
In my work with over stressed physicians I have noticed a consistent misunderstanding of the pathophysiology of burnout – the hidden methods physician burnout uses to sap your energy and steal your passion for medicine. In this post I will show you how Physician Burnout does it’s dirty work.
This is vitally important because once you can clearly understand how physician burnout operates, you will begin to see the simple ways you can keep the normal stresses of being a doctor — from crossing the line into threatening your career, your marriage and even your life.
"I started to feel better about my life within a couple weeks of beginning our conversations. I knew that I had an ally and friend. I realized that my feelings were predictable based on my circumstances, that I was “normal”. For the first time in years I had real hope that things would change for the better.
We worked together to find and interview for a new position in the worst job market for my specialty the recruiters have ever experienced. With Dike’s help and persistent positive attitude, I found a new position at a group that really cares about the doctors and I start in two weeks.
For me, the program has been worth everything. It has enabled me to emerge from my depression, change my toxic work situation, improve my home and family life, and allow myself to be happy and realize that I deserve to be happy.”
