The document discusses the prevalence and impact of burnout among health professionals, linking it to various workplace factors and emotional communication dynamics. It highlights that burnout can lead to diminished patient safety and poorer interactions with patients, while also providing suggestions for coping and interventions to reduce burnout. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of social support and employee participation in decision-making to mitigate burnout effects.

1. Burnout Among Health Professionals

2. “If constant stress has you feeling helpless,
disillusioned, and completley exhausted you
may be suffering from burnout. When you’re
burned out, problems seem insurmountable,
everything looks bleak, and it’s difficult to
muster up the energy to care- let alone do
something about your situation” (Burnout
Prevention and Recovery).

3. The emotionally exhausted clinician is overwhelmed by work to the point
of feeling fatigued, unable to face the demands of the job and is unable to
engage with others.
This might develop a sense of cynical detachment from work and people in
general.
The growing prevalence of burnout syndrome among health care
personnel has gained attention as a potential threat to health care quality
and patient safety

4. Characteristics of the health care environment
include:
1.Time pressure
2.Lack of control over work processes
3.Role conflict
4.Poor relationships between groups
5.Poor leadership, combined with personal
predisposing factors

5. Burnout ranges:
10-70% among nurses
30-50% among physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
A study done by the Mayo Clinic, in partnership with the American Medical
Association, found more than half of American physicians now at least have
one sign of burnout. This is a 9% increase from the group’s prior results in a
study conducted 3 years prior.
This is vital because it is a threat to patient safety because depersonalization
is presumed to result in poorer interactions with patients.

6. Clinicians with burnout are more ikely to subjectively rate patient safety lower in their
organizations and to admit to having made mistakes / substandard care at work.
The American Medical Association and the Mayo Clinic have highlighted burnout as a
priority.
This Annual Perspective summarizes studies published in 2015, with a focus on the
relationship between burnout and patient safety, and interventions to adress brunout
among clinicians.
Most of these studies have been self-reported by health care workers because they
have felt that their perceptions of work have effected patient safety.

7. There are numerous factors that communication contributes to burnout in
the health care field.
Communicative interactions contribute to an individuals workload
Communication can also influence the experiencee of role conflict and role
ambiguity.
“Graen’s Model describes the ways in which supervisor-subordinate
interaction helps to define expectations as an individual learns about the
job and the organization. If communication in this crucial stage of
socialization is inadequate, role conflict and role ambiguity are likely to
result” (Miller, Katherine).

8. Emotional Labor in burnout is a crucial factor.
The jobs in the health care field require passion for the job, caring for patients and caring
for those around you
Hochschield’s original development suggests that workers that are involved in emotional
labor are high risk to serious psychological risk. This includes showing emotions that are
not actually felt.
Morris and Feldman called this “emotional dissonance” and this is one of the major factors
leading to negative consequences such as burnout and job dissatisfaction.

9. Another area of concentration for burnout linking to communication is natural
emotions.
Miller, Stiff and Ellis explored the role of emotion communication and burnout by
testing a theory.
They noted that individuals often chose occupations like Health care, social work,
etc. because they are “people orientated” and have a high degree of empathy for
others.
Miller and colleagues then drew a conclusion between two kinds of empathy,
Emotional contagion and Empathic concern.
Emotional Contagion is a affective response in which the observer experiences
emotional parallel to those of another person.
Empathic Concern is which the observer has a nonparallel emotional response.

10. These two dimensions of empathy influence the communication of human service
workers because the empathic concern should help the employee communication
effectively whereas emotional contagion should hinder effective interaction.
Looking at those that have suffered from burnout, Miller and colleagues state that
they would be less emotional towards their patients compared to those who have
not suffered from burnout.
Emotional communication in the workplace can be detrimental but only under
certain conditions, especially when the caregiver feels for the client and
communications because of those feelings.

11. Detached concern is another area for concern when it comes to client patient
interactions.
When health care providers detach their emotional side of their job, this can
affect their emotional involvement.
Many scholars have become concerned from the danger of health care providers
being “too detached” from their patients.
Experts have recommended that physicians can combat this by engaging in the
more genuine empathy embodied in the processes of deep acting.

12. What you can do:
1. Put a priority on face-to-face social contact with supportive
people
2. Set a time each day when you completely disconnect from
technology
3. Move your body frequently- don’t sit for more than an hour
4. Make laughter and play a priority
5. Reduce your intake of alcohol, nicotine and caffeine
6. Get all the restful sleep that you need to feel your best

13. Folk man, Lazarus, Gruen and DeLongis have identified three
ways of coping:
1. Problem Centered Coping- involves dealing directly with the
causes of burnout
2. Appraisal Centered Coping- involves changing the way one thinks
about the stressful situation
3. Emotion-centered Coping- involves dealing with the negative
affective outcomes of burnout.

14. Reducing “Burnout” feelings from the workplace can be done.
Socialization programs can be designed to enhance the clarity of employee role
definitions.
Workloads can be carefully monitored and controlled by the leaders of the organization
Workers that are working long hours or have many projects at one time can be granted
“time outs” where they can take a moment to regroup and to relax before going back to
work.
The conflict between work and home can be difficult for some people. Some things that
have been done are,
On site day care, flextime and working at home.

15. Participating in decision making in the workplace when you are experiencing
burnout can be difficult.
Participation and the feeling of inclusion have decreased burnout in the health care
field.
“Employees who had an opportunity to participate in decisions experienced lower
levels of strain and fewer intentions to leave their jobs” (Miller).
With including everyone in decision making, this would help the company in the
long-term with the health and the happiness of all of their workers.
“More accurate knowledge of the formal and informal expectations held by others
for the worker and for the organization as a whole”
One of the biggest causes of burnout is Stress. Actually knowing what is expected
of you and what is going on in the company can prevent this.

16. Social support is one of the biggest things that can help burnout in the health care
field.
Social support from family and friends in the workplace can prevent burnout.
Knowing that the people around you are encouraging you and supporting you with
your tasks can be beneficial for both parties involved.
Coping with job related stress can be a lot for just one person, but if that person has
someone that they can talk to this could help with the stress that the person would
have.
“Emotional support might involve a message that boosts another's self-esteem ‘I
know you’re bright enough to do well on the test’ message that indicates
unconditional regard” (Miller).

17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3FZDHVHYjM

18. QUESTIONS
1. What things can health care providers do to prevent burnout?
2. If one sees a colleague suffering from burnout, what can he/she do
to help that person out?
3. When communication happens between a patient and a provider,
what things happen that can cause burnout?

19. QUESTIONS
4.What kinds of programs have been formed to help coworkers
that are dealing with symptoms of burnout?
5.When it comes to decision making, what kinds of things can the
leaders of organizations do to help the workers that are lower
than them?
6.With improvements in the health care field to help health care
providers, what other problems can be fixed related to burnout?

20. WORK CITED
"Burnout Among Health Professionals and Its Effect on Patient Safety." PSNet:
Patient Safety Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2017.
"Burnout Prevention and Recovery." Burnout Prevention and Recovery: Signs,
Symptoms, and Coping Strategies for Mental Exhaustion. N.p., n.d.Web. 15
Mar. 2017.
Miller, Katherine. Organizational Communication Approaches and Processes. 7th
ed. N.p.: Cengage Learning, n.d. Print.
YouTube. Physician Burn-Out -The Silent Epidemic.YouTube, 09 May 2014. Web.
15 Mar. 2017.