Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being

A Consensus Study from the National Academy of Medicine

Report Overview Resources

Report Highlights | Key Messages | Report Recommendations | Clinician Burnout: A Crisis in Health Care Infographic | Press Release | Event Webcast | Report Release Slides | Social Media Toolkit 

Resources for Policymakers

Policymaker Brief | Research Agenda

Activity Description

The changing landscape of the U.S. health care system has had profound effects on clinical practice and the experiences of clinicians, students and trainees (“learners”), and patients and their families. Mounting system pressures have contributed to an imbalance of overwhelming job demands and insufficient job resources for clinicians, causing physical, psychological, and emotional stress, including burnout – a workplace syndrome that is characterized by high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalization (i.e., cynicism), and a low sense of personal accomplishment from work.

The high rates of burnout reported among U.S. clinicians and learners is a strong signal that the nation’s health care system is failing to achieve its aims for system-wide improvement. Improving the U.S. health care system to achieve the goals of better care, improved population health, and lower costs depends in large part on a workforce that is functioning at its highest level. Positive, healthy work and learning environments support the professional well-being that is so essential to the therapeutic alliance among clinicians, patients, and families and the delivery of high-quality care.

Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Supporting Professional Well-Being calls upon leaders in health care organizations and health professions educational institutions as well as within the government and industry to prioritize major improvements in clinical work and learning environments in all settings, and for all disciplines to prevent and mitigate clinician burnout and foster professional well-being for the overall health of clinicians, patients, and the nation.

More information 

Committee Members

• Pascale Carayon, PhD, Co-Chair University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Christine Cassel, MD, Co-Chair University of California, San Francisco 
• Elisabeth Belmont, JD MaineHealth
• Neil Busis, MD, FAAN University of Pittsburgh
• M. Lynn Crismon, PharmD, FCPP, BCPP University of Texas at Austin
• Liselotte Dyrbye, MD, MHPE Mayo Clinic
• Pooja Kinkhabwala, DO Larkin Community Hospital
• Wanda Lipscomb, PhD Michigan State University 
• Saranya Loehrer, MD, MPH Institute for Healthcare Improvement
• M.A.J. Lex MacNeil, DDS, FAGD, FICD, FACD Midwestern University
• Jose Pagan, PhD New York University
• Sharon Pappas, RN, PhD, NEA-BC, FAAN Emory Healthcare
• Cynda Rushton, PhD, RN, FAAN Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, School of Nursing, and School of Medicine
• Tait Shanafelt, MD Stanford Medicine
• George Thibault, MD Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
• Vindell Washington, MD Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana 
• Matthew Weinger, MD Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Sponsors

• The Mont Fund
• The Ohio State University 
• The State University of New York System
• Tulane University
• University of Florida
• University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System
• University of Massachusetts Medical School
• University of Michigan
• University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
• University of Utah Health
• University of Virginia Medical Center and University of Virginia School of Medicine
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Washington University School of Medicine
• Yale New Haven Health System and Yale School of Medicine

Contact Information

Marc Meisnere
Email: supportingclinicianwellbeing@nas.edu
Phone: 202-334-3304
Mailing Address: Keck Center WS725 500 Fifth Street NW Washington, DC 20001

Related