Year: 2022 Source: Cham, CH: Springer, Cham. (2021). p.55-67. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84785-2_5 SIEC No: 20220142

Burnout and compassion fatigue have been observed in physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists, and a variety of other healthcare workers. Burnout tends to be more connected to environmental factors like mismatches in expected workload, autonomy, rewards, values, and fairness, while compassion fatigue seems more connected to interpersonal stresses related to observing continuous suffering. The worst consequences of burnout and compassion fatigue include depersonalization, a sense of inefficacy, decreased work productivity, dissatisfaction, and a higher risk of professional error. Furthermore, the persistence of a difficult and exhausting work situation contributes to the development of exhaustion or cynicism, which in turn decreases physicians’ sense of effectiveness. Burnout syndrome also puts physicians at risk of developing other psychological and psychiatric disorders, including depressive and anxious symptoms, alcohol abuse, drug dependence, and suicidal risk. The most frequent disorders among physicians are alcohol use, prescription drug use, and depression, and there is a significantly higher suicide rate in physicians than in the general population. To implement coordinated and synergistic preventive strategies, we need to both identify physicians with mental health conditions and how our workplace environments may be driving burnout, compassion fatigue, and suicidal despair.