Burnout is an Expression of Grief, Not a Lack of Compassion
An earlier version of this article appeared on the KevinMD website in June, 2023
Over the last 5 years, the word “burnout” has become nearly synonymous with the state of healthcare. With nearly 50 percent of physicians surveyed reporting burnout in 2023, it’s an epidemic in our profession.
Physicians are often made to feel responsible for their symptoms of burnout, but by definition, burnout is not a personal failing or a psychological illness. Rather, burnout is defined as an occupational phenomenon that happens in response to chronic workplace-related stress.
Burnout is not a failure of compassion.
If you’re feeling burned out, it doesn’t mean that you don’t care. In fact, burnout may be a natural reaction to the recognition that you are unable to provide the compassionate care that your patients need.
The experience of burnout may mirror in some ways the experience of grief. Both are a response to loss. And like burnout, grief is often experienced as exhaustion and difficulty thinking clearly.
Compassion fatigue on the other hand is defined as a sense of indifference to the suffering of others. It’s an emotional withdrawal often caused by exposure to traumatic events. For physicians, it may be a response to relentless illness and death. The COVID-19 pandemic is a classic example of a driver of compassion fatigue, especially for those who worked in the ER and ICU in the early days of this disaster.
It’s not uncommon for physicians to experience compassion fatigue from time to time. It doesn’t mean that they are not compassionate people, but rather that they are suffering and in need of relief.
We might consider burnout as a type of disenfranchised grief. But it is not compassion fatigue. In fact, equating burnout with a lack of compassion may be a heavy-handed way of placing the blame on physicians while deflecting it from the systems that created the problem.
As a coach, I have found that many physicians with burnout are in fact grieving the lack of connection to their patients. Often this is due to system-wide emphasis on RVUs combined with excessive clerical work that undermines their ability to spend meaningful time with patients.
National organizations and many health care systems are beginning to take note, and as supportive processes are put in place, rates of burnout do seem to be slowly improving. But there is much work to be done.
If you’re experiencing burnout, it’s important to recognize it for the wound that it is, have compassion for yourself, and create a plan to move forward.
In the words of the poet Rumi, “the wound is the place where the light enters you.” What does this light illuminate for you?
As a physician coach, I will work with you to explore what’s possible and create a plan that aligns with your personal values and aspirations. Schedule your exploratory conversation with me by clicking the button below.