The American Medical Association estimates that physician burnout costs the country $4.6 billion annually, and that doesn't include the cost for nurses and other clinicians. Additionally, physicians note too many bureaucratic tasks as a main contributor to their daily stress.
Such revelations have prompted many in the healthcare industry to focus on clinician burnout, including a panel at the recent American Telemedicine Association annual conference in Boston, Massachusetts.
Not surprisingly, the discussion quickly turned to the COVID-19 pandemic, commonly cited as an event that has exacerbated existing clinician burnout and caused what has become known as the "great resignation."
Peter Yellowlees, MBBS, MD, professor of psychiatry and chief wellness officer at the University of California, Davis, said his health system has experienced a lot of their nursing staff resigning or moving to other employment, particularly from intensive care units and the emergency department.
"We actually haven't had too many physicians go, but I have a funny feeling we're going to see that over the next year or so because I think a lot of people have just put their head down during the pandemic and they've worked themselves hard," he said. "They're now sort of putting their heads up above the wall," and could realize that they want a change.
