Burnout in Healthcare: Peter Brindley

Peter Brindley explains how burnout affects us all. It affects the cost, quality of care, organisational culture, performance and patient outcomes.

Burnout is fatigue, loss of ideals, purposelessness, presentism and the sense of being under-appreciated. It is not tiredness, exhaustion, boredom, mid-life crisis, depression, PTSD, perfectionism or narcissism.

Moreover, burnout involves the 4 C's: cutting corners, cynicism, callousness, and contempt.

Peter explains when and why, and to whom a burnout occurs. A major reason for burnout is the difference between expectations and reality. This drives the thought, “this is not what I signed up for.”

Furthermore, he presents the 12 steps which lead to a burnout. It begins by the need to prove yourself by working harder, neglecting your needs, avoiding issues, and losing friends or hobbies. This leads to denial, withdrawal, behavioural changes, depersonalisation, inner emptiness, depression and finally burnout.

Peter suggests a few things that we can do to prevent burnout. He recommends purposeful imbalance and dividing career into thirds: learning, earning, and returning.

Evidently, burnout is a chronic condition, and although it cannot be cured, it is manageable. It might take years to manifest and hence, we must always be on the lookout for the signs.

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