Preventing Burnout in Health Care Professionals
Burnout is when an individual is experiencing chronic overwhelm and stress from work that is impacting their mental, physical and emotional health. Unfortunately, it is a common phenomenon across all working professionals and yet anyone working in health care might experience burn out in a different way due to the emotional labor and high-stakes environment.
Taking care of others physically or mentally can take a toll that leads individuals to not prioritizing their own health and continuously puts their needs on the back burner. By doing so, there is a ripple effect that starts to occur of being in a constant state of exhaustion which leads to increased isolation, lack of self care and ultimately increased difficulty in being present during patient care. Health care professionals are used to taking care of others so taking that first step in having their own needs met can allow for prevention of burnout in the future.
So how do we recognize when we are in a state of burnout? Let’s talk about the signs to look out for:
Physical symptoms
Increased fatigue
Increased aches - muscles, back pain, headaches
GI issues
Difficulty sleeping
Neglecting self-care
Weight loss or weight gain
Emotional symptoms
Increased irritability
Feeling overwhelmed or hopeless
Low mood
Lack of interest in activities you used to enjoy
Increased self-isolation
Difficulty focusing
When talking through signs and symptoms, individuals might not be able to recognize these in themselves, and look externally for those indicators. An example of this might be getting text messages from friends saying they haven’t seen you in a while or your apartment being disorganized and there is difficulty in doing household chores. Either way, once you can recognize that the stress from work is impacting other areas of your life, individuals might be more likely to seek out help.
However, the goal in this blog post is to prevent individuals from getting to a state of burnout so in order to recognize the signs, there also needs to be an understanding of how this phenomenon happens in the first place.
Understaffing, lack of autonomy, and administrative work can be systemic issues that can cause individuals to start feeling frustrated and hopeless surrounding how the system is helping them in taking care of patients. Since the height of COVID-19, there has also been a growing issue of “moral distress” amongst healthcare workers as mentioned by the US Department of Health and Human Services in 2022. It is when workers experience “helplessness” due to the lack of resources and circumstances beyond their control when being able to help patients. Compiling these obstacles, it is understandable that these workers who pursued a career in helping others, might find themselves “burnt out” due to the lack of control around them.
This is how burnout is different in healthcare than it might be in other fields. However that doesn’t mean that burnout can’t come from the individual's behavior too. Some ways of how that might happen is through:
Difficulty with work-life balance
Perfectionism/ People-pleasing
High Empathy
Difficulty asking for help
“Hero” mentality
Stigma
Navigating through the system and acknowledging that a lot is out of our control is a part of the work that happens in therapy. However, many individuals come in for tools on how to prevent burn out and what they can do to make sure that their individual behaviors listed above aren’t contributing to burn out.
Tools for Health Care Professionals…
Bringing awareness and understanding patterns of thought, emotion and behavior are gonna allow you to see how you are feeling about work. A simple way to do this is to do a check-in before, during and after work however if you work in healthcare, you might have a hard time slowing down. So when you are utilizing the bathroom or filling up your water bottle, take a minute to ask yourself, “On a scale of 1-10, how much energy do I have today?” or “Am I noticing any heaviness in my body today and where do I notice it?”. These two questions allow you to get a baseline for how you are feeling physically and emotionally on a daily basis.
If you are wanting to do a more thorough assessment of how you are feeling, journaling is a great activity to integrate into your morning or night routine. Whether you have multiple prompts that guide you or just start with the task of checking in like you would with a friend, it will start the conversation of knowing when something doesn’t feel “right”.
Boundaries are difficult in an environment where you have to follow instructions and don’t create your own schedule; however if you do have the opportunity to take breaks, do so and maybe spend some of that time outside or with no-screen time. It will allow you to be more grounded and present in checking in and knowing what you are needing after your shift. If you are finding yourself struggling to stay awake during your shift, maybe focus on resting physically and mentally when you are done for the day. If you are finding yourself noticing that you are getting emotional, take some time after shift to breathe, talk to a close friend or even journal what might be showing up for you. Taking a break can be more than just an escape from what is happening on shift but also a way for you to see how your needs might be different everyday.
Saying “no” is also a part of boundaries. Again, this might not be a realistic option however being asked to stay later or pick up an extra shift, if you find yourself already struggling, maybe this is where you let the system know, “hey I would love to be able to help out but I am currently having a hard time and am needing to prioritize my mental health. Let me know if there is any other way I can help in the future!”. This type of boundary setting is what licensed therapist Kati Morton likes to call “Hug & Roll” where you express your boundary in a sandwich of empathy and or compliments. It will make setting boundaries with work and loved ones a little easier to navigate.
Mind-body connection is something that I am passionate about in my work with individuals and so I wanted to include that in this space since health care professionals are people who might not have the “average” work schedule. Depending on your profession, you might work nights, 12 hour shifts and/or be on call. With that being said, it is vital that you also notice how sleep, food, and movement might be impacting your mood and behaviors. For example, if you are noticing you are feeling irritable, try asking yourself “when was the last time that I slept a full 8 hours?” or “when was the last time that I felt rested?”. Trying to find a way to get sleep is going to allow you to regulate your emotions better and ultimately help with your mood. Similarly, food and movement are gonna allow you to feel better physically and give you more energy to get you through your week.
Mindfulness and grounding exercises can be helpful in making you feel more present during your off days. Taking a moment to do a body scan will allow you to check in with yourself physically while doing a meditation such as “leaves on a stream” is a great way to let go of some of the worries that show up and not let take up space. 4-7-8 breathing exercises have been shown to help with allowing your body to relax and go to sleep.
Ultimately, all of these signs, symptoms and tools are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to being a health care professional. There is so much more that these individuals face on a daily basis that could result in mental health struggles. Therefore, it is also important to note that if you are a loved one of a healthcare professional, take time to check in and see how they are “really” doing. And if you are a healthcare professional yourself, please reach out to friends, family or a therapist if you are struggling and are needing some help in knowing where to go from here. Silence continues the cycle and change is possible.
This is not a comprehensive list of tools but a great place to start when it comes to preventing burn-out and prioritizing your mental and physical health. If you are noticing any symptoms of burn-out, Balanced Awakening has clinicians who can help in creating a specialized treatment plan to make steps towards a more balanced life!