Although healthcare worker burnout has been an issue for the field since before the pandemic, it has only intensified under the strain of the ongoing public health crisis. The prevalence of burnout has become so worrisome that U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, recently issued an advisory about health worker burnout and recommendations for how to address the crisis.
In Understand Key Takeaways, the advisory addresses causes of burnout, workforce shortages, differential impacts on health workers and how health worker burnout affects all of us. It also offers a health worker well-being Q&A with Murthy, along with suggestions for taking action tailored to various roles within the healthcare system. For example, the guidance recommends healthcare organizations transform workplace culture to empower health workers and be responsive to their voices and needs, and to show health workers how much they are valued. Finally, the advisory offers toolkits and other resources to help spread the word.
