Tag: Clinician burnout

Surgeon General Advisory Sounds Alarm on Health Worker Burnout and Resignation

United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new Surgeon General’s Advisory highlighting the urgent need to address the health worker burnout crisis across the country. Health workers, including physicians, nurses, community and public health workers, nurse aides, among others, have long faced systemic challenges in the health care system even before the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to crisis levels of burnout.

The pandemic further exacerbated burnout for health workers, with many risking and sacrificing their own lives in the service of others while responding to a public health crisis.

The Surgeon General’s Advisory Addressing Health Worker Burnout lays out recommendations for health care organizations, health insurers, health technology companies, policymakers, academic institutions, researchers, and communities to address health worker burnout and ensure their well-being – so that health workers can thrive and better answer their call as healers.

Topline recommendations to address burnout in the Surgeon General’s Advisory include:

  • Transform workplace culture to empower health workers and be responsive to their voices and needs.
    • We can begin by listening to health workers and seek their involvement to improve processes, workflows, and organizational culture.
  • Eliminate punitive policies for seeking mental health and substance use disorder care.
    • Ensure on-demand counseling and after work hours care are more accessible to health workers to promote and preserve their well-being.
  • Protect the health, safety, and well-being of all health workers. 
    • Provide living wages, paid sick and family leave, rest breaks, evaluation of workloads and working hours, educational debt support, and family-friendly policies including childcare and care for older adults for all health workers.
    • Ensure adequate staffing, including surge capacity for public health emergencies, that is representative of the communities they serve. This is critical to protect and sustain health workers and communities.
    • Organizations, communities, and policies must prioritize protecting health workers from workplace violence and ensure that they have sufficient personal protective equipment.
    • In a national survey – PDF exit disclaimer icon among health workers in mid-2021, eight out of 10 experienced at least one type of workplace violence during the pandemic, with two-thirds having been verbally threatened, and one-third of nurses reporting an increase in violence compared to the previous year.
    • Among 26,174 state, tribal, local, and territorial public health workers surveyed across the country during March-April 2021, nearly a quarter (23.4%) reported feeling bullied, threatened, or harassed at work.
  • Reduce administrative burdens to help health workers have productive time with patients, communities, and colleagues.
    • One study showed that on average, for every 1 hour of direct patient care, a primary care provider will spend 2 hours a day on administrative tasks. That is time that could be spent with patients, in the community, and building relationships with colleagues, which is essential to strengthening the health and well-being of both health workers and patients.
  • Prioritize social connection and community as a core value of the healthcare system.
    • This enhances job fulfillment, protects against loneliness and isolation, and ultimately improves the quality of patient care.
    • This includes peer and team-based models of care to strengthen collaboration and create opportunities for social support and community.
  • Invest in public health and our public health workforce. 
    • Diversify and expand the public health workforce and improve disease surveillance systems to help address social determinants of health and health inequities, counter health misinformation, and strengthen partnerships across clinical and community settings.

“We applaud the Surgeon General for recognizing the increasing pressures on health care workers that is triggering burnout at a time when we are grappling with the greatest shortage ever of health care professionals,” said NAHC President William A. Dombi. “A number of the recommendations require a partnership with stakeholders such as a Medicare and Medicaid to provide improved compensation, job flexibilities, and the reduction of the burdens of paperwork. We are prepared to work constructively with HHS and others to bring practical solutions into reality. Health care professionals are essential to the future of our nation. We must act expeditiously.”

“At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and time and time again since, we’ve turned to our health workers to keep us safe, to comfort us, and to help us heal,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. “We owe all health workers – from doctors to hospital custodial staff – an enormous debt. And as we can clearly see and hear throughout this Surgeon General’s Advisory, they’re telling us what our gratitude needs to look like: real support and systemic change that allows them to continue serving to the best of their abilities. I’m grateful to Surgeon General Murthy for amplifying their voices today. As the Secretary of Health and Human Services, I am working across the department and the U.S. government at-large to use available authorities and resources to provide direct help to alleviate this crisis.”

“The nation’s health depends on the well-being of our health workforce. Confronting the long-standing drivers of burnout among our health workers must be a top national priority,” said Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. “COVID-19 has been a uniquely traumatic experience for the health workforce and for their families, pushing them past their breaking point. Now, we owe them a debt of gratitude and action. And if we fail to act, we will place our nation’s health at risk. This Surgeon General’s Advisory outlines how we can all help heal those who have sacrificed so much to help us heal.”

Surgeon General Advisory Sounds Alarm on Health Worker Burnout and Resignation

United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new Surgeon General’s Advisory highlighting the urgent need to address the health worker burnout crisis across the country. Health workers, including physicians, nurses, community and public health workers, nurse aides, among others, have long faced systemic challenges in the health care system even before the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to crisis levels of burnout.

The pandemic further exacerbated burnout for health workers, with many risking and sacrificing their own lives in the service of others while responding to a public health crisis.

The Surgeon General’s Advisory Addressing Health Worker Burnout lays out recommendations for health care organizations, health insurers, health technology companies, policymakers, academic institutions, researchers, and communities to address health worker burnout and ensure their well-being – so that health workers can thrive and better answer their call as healers.

Topline recommendations to address burnout in the Surgeon General’s Advisory include:

  • Transform workplace culture to empower health workers and be responsive to their voices and needs.
    • We can begin by listening to health workers and seek their involvement to improve processes, workflows, and organizational culture.
  • Eliminate punitive policies for seeking mental health and substance use disorder care.
    • Ensure on-demand counseling and after work hours care are more accessible to health workers to promote and preserve their well-being.
  • Protect the health, safety, and well-being of all health workers. 
    • Provide living wages, paid sick and family leave, rest breaks, evaluation of workloads and working hours, educational debt support, and family-friendly policies including childcare and care for older adults for all health workers.
    • Ensure adequate staffing, including surge capacity for public health emergencies, that is representative of the communities they serve. This is critical to protect and sustain health workers and communities.
    • Organizations, communities, and policies must prioritize protecting health workers from workplace violence and ensure that they have sufficient personal protective equipment.
    • In a national survey – PDF exit disclaimer icon among health workers in mid-2021, eight out of 10 experienced at least one type of workplace violence during the pandemic, with two-thirds having been verbally threatened, and one-third of nurses reporting an increase in violence compared to the previous year.
    • Among 26,174 state, tribal, local, and territorial public health workers surveyed across the country during March-April 2021, nearly a quarter (23.4%) reported feeling bullied, threatened, or harassed at work.
  • Reduce administrative burdens to help health workers have productive time with patients, communities, and colleagues.
    • One study showed that on average, for every 1 hour of direct patient care, a primary care provider will spend 2 hours a day on administrative tasks. That is time that could be spent with patients, in the community, and building relationships with colleagues, which is essential to strengthening the health and well-being of both health workers and patients.
  • Prioritize social connection and community as a core value of the healthcare system.
    • This enhances job fulfillment, protects against loneliness and isolation, and ultimately improves the quality of patient care.
    • This includes peer and team-based models of care to strengthen collaboration and create opportunities for social support and community.
  • Invest in public health and our public health workforce. 
    • Diversify and expand the public health workforce and improve disease surveillance systems to help address social determinants of health and health inequities, counter health misinformation, and strengthen partnerships across clinical and community settings.

“We applaud the Surgeon General for recognizing the increasing pressures on health care workers that is triggering burnout at a time when we are grappling with the greatest shortage ever of health care professionals,” said NAHC President William A. Dombi. “A number of the recommendations require a partnership with stakeholders such as a Medicare and Medicaid to provide improved compensation, job flexibilities, and the reduction of the burdens of paperwork. We are prepared to work constructively with HHS and others to bring practical solutions into reality. Health care professionals are essential to the future of our nation. We must act expeditiously.”

“At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and time and time again since, we’ve turned to our health workers to keep us safe, to comfort us, and to help us heal,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. “We owe all health workers – from doctors to hospital custodial staff – an enormous debt. And as we can clearly see and hear throughout this Surgeon General’s Advisory, they’re telling us what our gratitude needs to look like: real support and systemic change that allows them to continue serving to the best of their abilities. I’m grateful to Surgeon General Murthy for amplifying their voices today. As the Secretary of Health and Human Services, I am working across the department and the U.S. government at-large to use available authorities and resources to provide direct help to alleviate this crisis.”

“The nation’s health depends on the well-being of our health workforce. Confronting the long-standing drivers of burnout among our health workers must be a top national priority,” said Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. “COVID-19 has been a uniquely traumatic experience for the health workforce and for their families, pushing them past their breaking point. Now, we owe them a debt of gratitude and action. And if we fail to act, we will place our nation’s health at risk. This Surgeon General’s Advisory outlines how we can all help heal those who have sacrificed so much to help us heal.”

 

Surgeon General Advisory Sounds Alarm on Health Worker Burnout and Resignation

United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new Surgeon General’s Advisory highlighting the urgent need to address the health worker burnout crisis across the country. Health workers, including physicians, nurses, community and public health workers, nurse aides, among others, have long faced systemic challenges in the health care system even before the COVID-19 pandemic, leading…

New Law Funds Support for Health Care Workers’ Mental Wellness

On March 18, 2022, President Biden signed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act into law. The law is named for Dr. Lorna Breen, who served as the Medical Director of New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital before her suicide in April 2020, a death her family attributes to the immense mental, emotional, and physical toll that responding to the first COVID-19 surge in New York City took on her well-being.

Dr. Breen declined getting help for the stress she was experiencing because she was concerned that seeking mental health support would negatively impact her career and ostracize her from colleagues. The law will direct $140 million in grant funding over the next 3 years for training programs on treatment to reduce burnout for health care professionals, offer mental health services and prevent deaths by suicide by health care workers. A recent study found that home care workers report poor mental health at double what typical American workers experience.

Funding for the law’s implementation was included in last year’s American Rescue Plan Act, over $100 million of which has already been allocated to 46 institutions across the country working to help health care professionals. Grantee organizations must use the funding to establish or enhance evidence-based or evidence-informed programs dedicated to improving mental health and resilience in the health professional workforce. Hospitals, community health centers, rural health clinics, and medical professional associations, among other health care entities, are eligible to receive these grants and contracts. In awarding these grants and contracts, HHS must give priority to entities that are in health professional shortage areas or in rural areas. Examples of the kinds of activities that can be supported by the grants include:

  • Improving awareness among health care providers about risk factors and signs of suicide, mental health, or substance use disorders
  • Establishing or enhancing programs for suicide prevention and the improvement of mental health and resilience amongst health care providers
  • Providing mental health care, follow up, or referrals to such services and care to health care providers
  • Creating or improving peer-support programs for health care providers.

Th law also requires HHS to collaborate with stakeholders, such as health care professional associations, to establish a mental health education and awareness initiative. This initiative must encourage health care providers to seek care and support when experiencing mental health or substance abuse issues, help them learn to identify risk factors for these conditions, and teach them how to respond to such risks. This initiative must also seek to reduce stigma associated with pursuing help for mental health and substance use disorders. And no later than two years after enactment, HHS must also identify and disseminate evidence-based or evidence-informed best practices for improving health care provider mental health, preventing suicide, and strengthening mental resilience.

NAHC is encouraged by passage of this law. The mental and behavioral health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and response on health care workers of all kinds, including those working for home-based care providers, has been profound. Stigma, lack of awareness of treatment options, and inadequate programmatic funding have and continue to stymie efforts to connect workers with mental health supports. We are hopeful that this law, the first of its kind, is the beginning of a broader effort to better scale effective behavioral health interventions and strategies for the health care workforce.

New Law Funds Support for Health Care Workers’ Mental Wellness

On March 18, 2022, President Biden signed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act into law. The law is named for Dr. Lorna Breen, who served as the Medical Director of New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital before her suicide in April 2020, a death her family attributes to the immense mental, emotional, and physical…

House Passes Bill to Improve Health Care Worker Well-Being

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (H.R. 1667), legislation to fund programs to improve the well-being and mental health of health care workers, including proivders of home-based care.

This legislation is motivated at least in part by concern about the unprecedented stress and burnout health care workers have faced as a result of the demands put upon them by the COVID-19 pandemic. The law is named for Dr. Lorna Breen, the medical director of the emergency department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, who died by suicide in the Spring of 2020.

The bill passed in the U.S. Senate in August, but it will now go back to that chamber since a small change was made to the House version. If it passes, it will then go to President Biden to be signed into law.

The bill would:

  • Establish grants for health care providers and professional associations for employee education, peer-support programming, and mental and behavioral health treatment; health care providers in areas with health professional shortages or rural areas will be prioritized.
  • Establish grants for health profession schools, academic health centers, or other institutions to help them train health workers in strategies to prevent suicide, burnout, mental health conditions, and substance use disorders. The grants would also help improve health care professionals’ well-being and job satisfaction.
  • Seek to identify and disseminate evidence-informed best practices for reducing and preventing suicide and burnout among health care professionals, training health care professionals in appropriate strategies, and promoting their mental and behavioral health and job satisfaction.
  • Establish a national evidence-based education and awareness campaign targeting health care professionals to encourage them to seek support and treatment for mental and behavioral health concerns.
  • Establish a comprehensive study on health care professional mental and behavioral health and burnout, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on such professionals’ health.

The bill calls for $45 million per year for FY 2022-2024 for the above activities.

While the early 2022 legislative calendar remains in flux, it is possible that the Senate will soon consider the legislation and possibly seek passage via the fast-tracked “unanimous consent” process, which would clear the way for President Biden to sign the bill into law.

The pandemic, coupled with historic workforce shortages that have forced providers to work longer and harder than ever before, continue to strain caregiver’s ability to take attend to their own behavioral health needs. The National Association for Home Care & Hospice urges Congress to swiftly cooperate to pass the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, and we stand ready to work with the Administration and other stakeholders to ensure its successful implementation.

House Passes Bill to Improve Health Care Worker Well-Being

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act (H.R. 1667), legislation to fund programs to improve the well-being and mental health of health care workers, including proivders of home-based care. This legislation is motivated at least in part by concern about the unprecedented stress and burnout health care…

HHS Announces Millions of $ to Fight Burnout in Health Care Workforce

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced the availability of an estimated $103 million in American Rescue Plan funding over a three-year period to reduce burnout and promote mental health among the health workforce. These investments, which take into particular consideration the needs of…

HHS Announces Millions of $ to Fight Burnout in Health Care Workforce

On Friday, July 16, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced the availability of an estimated $103 million in American Rescue Plan funding over a three-year period to reduce burnout and promote mental health among the health workforce. These investments, which take into particular consideration the needs of rural and medically underserved communities, will help health care organizations establish a culture of wellness  among the health and public safety workforce and will support training efforts that build resiliency for those at the beginning of their health careers.

“It is essential that we provide behavioral health resources for our health care providers – from paraprofessionals to public safety officers – so that they can continue to deliver quality care to our most vulnerable communities,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, who stressed the administration’s committment to ensuring frontline health care workers have access to the services they need to prevent burnout, fatigue, and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Health care providers face many challenges and stresses due to high patient volumes, long work hours and workplace demands. These challenges were amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and have had a disproportionate impact on communities of color and in rural communities. The programs announced today will support the implementation of evidence-informed strategies to help organizations and providers respond to stressful situations, endure hardships, avoid burnout and foster healthy workplace environments that promote mental health and resiliency.

“This funding will help advance HRSA’s mission of developing a health care workforce capable of meeting the critical needs of underserved populations,” said Acting HRSA Administrator Diana Espinosa. “These programs will help to combat occupational stress and depression among our health care workers as they continue their heroic work to defeat the pandemic.”

There are three funding opportunities that are now accepting applications:

  • Promoting Resilience and Mental Health Among Health Professional Workforce– Approximately 10 awards will be made totaling approximately $29 million over three years to health care organizations to support members of their workforce. This includes establishing, enhancing, or expanding evidence-informed programs or protocols to adopt, promote and implement an organizational culture of wellness that includes resilience and mental health among their employees.

A New Resource to Combat Clinician Burnout

The National Academy of Medicine has created a Clinician Well-Being Knowledge Hub, intended as a comprehensive repository to provide clinicians and health system professionals with resources to battle clinician burnout, a common problem in the health care industry. The ever-increasing demands of the health care field have led to high rates of burnout and stress…