Are you at risk of burnout?

This morning when I typed "Dentists Burnout" into google it produced,469,000 results. We have a problem with burnout in the dental profession, and it is resulting in talented clinicians giving up, not to mention the stress, anxiety and psychological trauma it leaves it its wake, As a coach, mentor and therapist, I believe burnout can be identified early, prevented and resolved, so clinicians can have a rich and rewarding career. Many studies and experiences show that the consequences of burnout include Health issues including  heart disease, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes, muscular skeletal issues, pain, fatigue, gastrointestinal, respiratory issues, early mortality. Psychological issues such as  loss of interest in work or personal life, insomnia,  inability to concentrate  anxiety, irritability, depression increased dependence on drugs and alcohol, and other mental disorders. Clinical issues impaired decision making, suboptimal or poor clinical care and treatment, clinical error and being sued, involvement and restrictions from the GDC. Financial issues, loss of income, overspending, loss of practice, loss of career, debt. Personal issues, damage to relationships, family friends, loss of self-esteem, loss of passion for life. Do you recognise any of the signs and symptoms in yourself or your colleagues? Fortunately, the risk of burnout can be identified before it occurs, enabling you to seek and accept help, so you can develop strategies to prevent it occurring as well as overcoming it. In his paper, Association Between Physician Burnout and Identification With Medicine as a Calling’ A Jager and his team, elicited the following results, “A total of 2263 physicians completed surveys (63.1% response rate). Among respondents, 28.5% (n=639) reported experiencing some degree of burnout. Compared with physicians who reported no burnout symptoms, those who were completely burned out had lower odds of finding their work rewarding (odds ratio [OR], 0.05; 95% CI, 0.02-0.10; P<.001), seeing their work as one of the most important things in their lives (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.21-0.69; P<.001), or thinking their work makes the world a better place (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.17-0.85; P=.02). Burnout was also associated with lower odds of enjoying talking about their work to others (OR, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.13-0.41; P<.001), choosing their work life again (OR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.06-0.20; P<.001), or continuing with their current work even if they were no longer paid if they were financially stable (OR, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.15-0.59; P<.001). From these results, we can identify 6 questions that will act as accurate predictors for risk of burnout. These 6 questions will help you identify if you or your colleagues are at risk. Do you find your work rewarding? ​​​​​​​Is your work one of the most important things in your life? Do you think your work makes the world a better place? Do you enjoy talking to others about your work? Would you choose your work life again? If you were financially stable, would you continue to  do your current work if you were not paid? How many of these questions were you able to answer “yes“? The fewer the yeses it could be the more at risk of burn out you  or your colleagues are If the scores are 4 or below, I would invite and encourage you to seek help and support from a coach trainer mentor or therapist. Help and support is there for you. Remember to ask for it, accept it when offered, it will save you time, money, stress and heartache. E mail me on Jane@IODB.co.uk to discover how we work with clients preventing and overcoming burnout. Please share this message with collegues you care about before it is too late.

Sources https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185781 https://annals.org/aim/article-abstract/714658/physician-burnout https://www.nature.com/articles/sj.bdj.2017.173 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joim.12752 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025619616307704