Part one of candid advice from a doctor, nurse practitioner, and counselor on how to identify burnout, reduce mental health stigma, and advocate for your well-being and others’.
“Adtalem Answers” taps into our community of approximately 350,000 alumni and more than 10,000 faculty and staff members to answer your questions on healthcare and education.
Dhaval Desai, MD ’08, is the author of Burning Out on the Covid Front Lines: A Doctor’s Memoir of Fatherhood, Race and Perseverance in the Pandemic. He is a physician and director of hospital medicine at Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital of Atlanta. He graduated from American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine.
Dr. Mita Johnson is a faculty member in Walden University’s School of Counseling. She recently served as president of NAADAC, the association for addiction professionals. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a private practice and designations as a Master Addiction Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.
Christopher Wojnar, BSN ’18, MSN ’24, is a graduate of Chamberlain University’s Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program. He is a professional nurse, an international speaker, and mental health advocate with lived experience.
What are some of the common signs of burnout in healthcare providers?
Dr. Desai: The most common sign of burnout is a feeling of dread going to work. Feeling fatigued, easily irritated, like “how much longer can I do this?” Whether it’s patient interactions, interactions with colleagues, or generally just feeling overwhelmed, when you put all of those together, it constitutes the classic signs of burnout.
We also have to remember that burnout is an occupational condition. The way we work, how we work, who we work for, our work skills, all of that ties into burnout. You don’t necessarily have a mood disorder or depression just because you’re burned out. It’s important to separate the two.
How do you know when you’re burning out?
Wojnar: Burnout can be insidious and sneak up on you. You have to be self-aware. I like to use the Subjective Units of Distress Scale. It’s a way to check in with yourself to say, “How am I feeling? Am I in the green, yellow, orange, or in the red? What can I do to get myself back in the green?” If you sit too long in red, it can equal burnout.
Dr. Johnson: Professional burnout is real. You need to be able to recognize within yourself what it looks like. The minute I start getting angry or frustrated with a client, when I start canceling appointments, when I get very directive with a client, when I’m having a hard time with colleagues and peers, that’s when I know. All of those can be a sign of burnout.
Dr. Desai: In 2020, my second child was born two weeks before the country shut down for the pandemic. Three to four months in, I started feeling those signs of irritability, fatigue, not finding joy in what I’m doing, just trying to survive. I also found myself having shortcomings at home: irritability, conflict, and not sleeping well. I recognized that I was dealing with some form of depression as well.
How do you deal with burnout in healthcare?
Wojnar: There is a common saying among nurses that if you haven’t experienced burnout yet, you haven’t been practicing long enough. But I think that’s also a misconception. Burnout is not inevitable. There are things that we can do proactively to stop that from happening.
Not taking our time off is a big thing. The number of hours we save up is not a badge of honor. It’s OK to use the time to rejuvenate, to spend it with family, to travel, or just for yourself. I love to play guitar and take time to disconnect.
Most nurses know what we need to do for our self-care. We’ve been told so many times that you have to take care of yourself to take care of others. The challenge comes in doing that earlier rather than later, before you’re at rock bottom. Because once you hit rock bottom, it’s hard to come out of it.
What does self-care really need to look like for healthcare providers?
How does peer support help deal with burnout in medical fields?
What role can supervisors play in preventing healthcare burnout?
Dr. Johnson: As supervisors, you need to manage your own burnout. Because if you’re supervising people, you’re doing a lot. What are you doing for yourself as a supervisor?
You also have to be willing to ask your supervisees about burnout. We get so involved in all the logistics of providing services, but at the end of the day, my supervisee is working directly with clients. You have to be professionally curious about what it’s like for them. You have to ask, “What are you noticing about yourself before you go into a session? What’s it like for you to be in session? What are you doing at work to take care of yourself?” You need to check in regularly, not just once a quarter or once a year. All of those kinds of things are helpful for managing your supervisees’ burnout.
Battle Burnout with a Micro-Course
Flexible continuing education options from Walden University.
- Self-Care and Compassion for the Clinician (1 hour)
- Managing Burnout in Healthcare Organizations (4 hours)
- Resiliency in Healthcare (4 hours)
- Resilience and Self-Care in Nursing (1.5 hours)
- All micro-courses
For more information, email the Adtalem Global Communications Team: adtalemmedia@adtalem.com.
