Physician Burnout and Compassion Fatigue: Individual and Institutional Response to an Emerging Crisis

Abstract

This paper reviews the recent literature in burnout and compassion fatigue focusing on institutional factors influencing burnout where providers work as well as the individual factors affecting providers. In this review, there is an evaluation of the causes and interventions of burnout and compassion fatigue and areas for intervention. The percentage of those suffering from burnout is decreasing for the first time in several years, and there are interventions to help decrease the impact of burnout and compassion fatigue. For an individual provider, mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, and improved communication appear to be productive approaches to help with burnout. Institutional approaches that mitigate the impact of burnout in healthcare include assessing provider needs and returning some autonomy and control over workload to the provider. Burnout and compassion fatigue remain a significant problem in healthcare and impact patient care as well as the well-being of providers. There are approaches that are working to decrease this impact in both the individual provider as well as the institutions in which providers are working. The research in this area from an individual perspective and a business perspective is only beginning.