Leading Healthcare Insights – Burnout and Emotional Wellbeing in a Workplace

Expert Panelist – Dr. Fanike Young, Rahul Goyal, Billie Ratliff, Mark Langford, and Dr. Ronke Komolafe

Healthcare is experiencing tremendous innovation, redesign, and growth ranging from expansion of digital health, use of artificial intelligence, evidence-based treatment models, and massive investment in at-home clinics, self-care, virtual care, acquisitions, and venture capitalist investment. The current environment is a battleground for intense competition for thought leadership and market and an increase in innovation. What role do technology and innovation play in this healthcare redesign and renovation stage?

Causes of Burnout

  1. Lack of control
  2. Moral injury
  3. Workplace trauma
  4. Prolong work-related stress and long hours
  5. Work-life imbalance
  6. Unclear job expectation

How to identify Burnout – The following symptoms are signs of burnout: 

  1. Continuous fatigue or exhaustion
  2. Irritability or impatient
  3. Frequent illnesses such as flu, colds, insomnia, headache, irritable bowel syndrome
  4. Isolation
  5. lack satisfaction from your achievements
  6. Hard to concentrate
  7. Cynical or critical at work

Strategies to Prevent Burnout 

Companies must create a work-life balance environment and help employees achieve healthy emotional, workplace, and physical well-being by implementing strategies to prevent burnout. These strategies help companies and individuals address the causes of stress and to avoid burnout.

Company Individual
1)     Make well-being a company culture 1)     Set clear boundaries between work and life
2)     Organizational respect 2)     Develop a self-care routine
3)     Implement quarterly performance reviews 3)     Manage workload – Delegate tasks and say no to prolong work hours
4)     Schedule periodic 1:1 meeting between employee and supervisor 4)     Create a support system
5)     Facilitate collaborative culture 5)     Consistently align values and ethics with Company mission and vision
6)     Set clear expectations 6)     Take mental breaks
7)     Develop a wellness program 7)     Take months or quarterly PTO

 Leaders should ensure that employees who work remotely, independently, and flexibly have clear role expectations. In addition to checking with the employee periodically to ensure goal setting, the right amount of job autonomy, and flexibility for work-life balance.

Strategies to Recover from Burnout

 Untreated burnout may result in susceptibility to both mental and physical illnesses. Full recovery from burnout is essential for physical and emotional well-being. The following strategies helps:

  1. Gentle exercise such as walking
  2. Journaling
  3. Change roles or jobs
  4. Define expectations
  5. Sleep 7-8 hours a day
  6. Therapy
  7. Create a support system
  8. Adopt a healthy lifestyle