During Mental Health Month, the Surgeon’s Recommendation highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare professionals who were already facing a burnout crisis level prior to the pandemic.

Over the next five years, it is projected that there will be a shortage of more than 3 million mandatory low-wage healthcare workers, and by 2033 there will be a shortage of approximately 140,000 doctors.

Today, US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has released a new Surgeon General’s recommendation emphasizing the urgent need to address burnout in healthcare professionals across the country. Healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, community health workers, public health workers, nursing assistants, etc., have long faced systematic challenges in the health care system even before the COVID-19 outbreak. It has led to a critical level of burnout syndrome. The pandemic exacerbated the burnout of health care workers, and many endangered and sacrificed their lives to serve others while responding to the public health crisis. Promoting the mental health and welfare of our front-line health care workers is a priority of the Biden Harris administration and a central objective of the national mental health strategy within President Biden’s unified agenda.

The Recommendations of the Medical Director to Deal with Burnout Syndrome in Healthcare Professionals It provides recommendations that society as a whole can take to address the factors that underpin burnout, improve the welfare of health care workers, and strengthen the country’s public health infrastructure.

“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many times since then, we have relied on our healthcare professionals to help keep us safe, comforted, and healed. I’m here. ” Secretary of Health and Welfare Xavier Besera.. “We owe huge debt to all healthcare professionals, from doctors to hospital administration staff, and they thank us so that we can clearly see and hear throughout this Secretary of Health’s recommendations. It will tell you what your feelings need to look like: true support and systematic change that will allow them to continue to reach their full potential. Today, General Mercy’s voice is amplified. As Secretary of Health and Welfare, I am a department and the entire US Government to use the authorities and resources available to provide direct assistance in mitigating this crisis. Is working.”

“National health depends on the well-being of our health care workers. Confronting the long-standing driving force of burnout among our health care workers must be a national top priority. Hmm. ” Surgeon Chief Bibek Mercy.. “COVID-19 is a unique traumatic experience for healthcare professionals and their families and has pushed them beyond their limits. Now we owe them a debt of gratitude and action. And I If we fail to act, we endanger the health of the country. This medical director’s recommendation is to heal those who have made many sacrifices to help us heal. Outlines how can help. ”

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals experienced an astonishing level of burnout. This is broadly defined as a condition of emotional fatigue, depersonalization, and low personal sense of accomplishment at work. Burnout may also be associated with mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression. In 2019, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) reported that burnout reached a “crisis” level, with up to 54% of nurses and doctors and up to 60% of medical students and residents suffering from burnout. .. Since then, pandemics have affected the mental health of healthcare professionals across the country, with more than 50% of public health workers having at least one mental health, including anxiety, depression, and elevated levels of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Reporting symptoms of the condition. ..

Health worker burnout not only harms individual workers, but also threatens the country’s public health infrastructure. Already, Americans are feeling the impact of staff shortages throughout the healthcare system in hospitals, primary care clinics, and the public health sector. With more than 500,000 registered nurses expected to retire by the end of 2022, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the need for 1.1 million newly registered nurses nationwide. Moreover, within the next five years, the country is facing a projected national shortage. Over 3 million low-paying healthcare workers. The American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) predicts that demand for doctors will continue to grow faster than supply, with a shortage of up to 139,000 doctors by 2033, creating the most disturbing gap in primary care. Burnout of health care workers affects the ability of the public to receive routine prevention and emergency treatment, as well as our ability to respond to public health emergencies.

The Recommendations of the Medical Director to Deal with Burnout Syndrome in Healthcare Professionals Providing recommendations to healthcare organizations, health insurance companies, healthcare technology companies, policy makers, academic institutions, researchers, and communities to deal with burnout of healthcare professionals and ensure their well-being. increase.

Here are the top-line recommendations for dealing with burnout in the Surgeon’s Recommendations:

• Transform the culture of the workplace to empower healthcare professionals and respond to their voices and needs.
  • First, you can listen to your healthcare professional and seek their involvement to improve processes, workflows, and organizational culture.
• Eliminate disciplinary policies for seeking mental health and substance use disorder care.
  • On-demand counseling and off-hours care are more accessible to healthcare professionals, ensuring that their well-being is promoted and maintained.
• Protect the health, safety and well-being of all healthcare professionals.
  • We provide family-friendly policies including living wages, paid illness and family vacations, breaks, workload and working hours assessments, education debt support, and childcare and elderly care for all healthcare professionals.
  • Ensure proper staffing, including surge capabilities for public health emergencies, on behalf of the communities in which they serve. This is important to protect and maintain healthcare professionals and communities.
  • Organizations, communities, and policies should prioritize protecting health care workers from workplace violence and ensure adequate personal protective equipment.
  • In a national survey of healthcare workers in mid-2021, eight out of ten experienced at least one type of workplace violence during a pandemic, two-thirds were verbally threatened, and one-third. The nurse was the previous year.
  • Almost a quarter (23.4%) of the 26,174 state, tribal, rural, and territorial public health workers surveyed nationwide from March to April 2021 were bullied, intimidated, or harassed at work. I reported that I felt.
• It reduces the administrative burden and allows healthcare professionals to spend productive time with patients, communities and colleagues.
  • On average, every hour of direct patient care, primary care providers spend two hours a day on administrative tasks, according to one study. It is the time that patients and communities can spend and build relationships with colleagues, which is essential to strengthening the health and well-being of both healthcare professionals and patients.
• Prioritize social connections and communities as the core values ​​of the healthcare system.
  • This improves job performance, protects against loneliness and isolation, and ultimately improves the quality of patient care.
  • This includes peer and team-based care models to enhance collaboration and create social support and community opportunities.
• Invest in public health and our public health workforce.
  • Diversify and expand the public health workforce, improve disease monitoring systems, address social determinants of health and health inequality, combat misinformation about health, and set up clinical and community settings. It helps to strengthen the partnership as a whole.

The Surgeon Director’s Recommendation is a public statement that draws American attention to public health issues and provides recommendations on how it should be treated. Advisories are reserved for serious public health issues that require the immediate attention of Americans.

read Dealing with Burnout in Healthcare Professionals: USA Surgeon Chief’s Advice to Build a Prosperous Medical Workforce At www.surgeongeneral.gov/burnout.

For more information on the Medical Administration Office, please visit www.surgeongeneral.gov.