Physician burnout is a key factor of medical errors

Burnt doctors are more likely to make major medical errors, regardless of workplace safety measures, according to a new study.

"It's not enough to try to fix the care setting to prevent mistakes. We must also address the underlying human factors that contribute to errors, by specifically examining the burnout of physicians, "said Dr. Daniel Tawfik of Stanford University School of Medicine in California, lead author of the 39, study, Reuters Health

. ] Burnout is a work-related syndrome characterized by emotional exhaustion, cynicism and the feeling of being less effective at work, Tawfik explained. Health care workers – and anyone with stressful work involving intensive interaction with other people – are particularly at risk of burnout.

It is estimated that more than half of doctors suffer from burnout, while 45%

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There is growing evidence that the exhaustion of doctors can have an impact on patient safety. The authors add, perhaps contributing to medical errors, which are responsible for 200,000 deaths in US hospitals each year, the authors add. thoughts and if they had made major medical errors in the previous three months. Demographics and specialties of the survey physicians were similar to those observed throughout the American medical population.

Overall, 10.5% of participants reported having recently made a major medical error, including errors in judgment, misdiagnosis or technical error. Fifty-five percent of the errors did not affect patient outcomes, 5.3% resulted in permanent health problems and 4.5% of the death of a patient

Seventy – Eight percent of the physicians reporting errors had symptoms of burnout. from those who have not reported errors. Physicians who made mistakes were also more likely to have high levels of fatigue (78% vs. 52%) and to have had recent suicidal thoughts (13% vs. 6%).

"The relationship between burnout of doctors and Tawfik said:" The study did not specifically examine the direction of the relationship, so exhaustion causes errors or if the mistakes cause burnout ". he added. "This study was really looking at the badociation between the two, it really seems to be both directions, the doctors who are more exhausted are more likely to report errors in the future and the doctors who report errors are more likely to declare depletion in the future. "

But this discouraging negative spiral could quickly become a positive spiral". "Tawfik added, noting that even a change in the situation is likely. one point on the scales of 30 to 55 points used to measure the symptoms of exhaustion was related to fewer medical errors reported.

PTSD INCREASES HEART "Patients should feel empowered to speak up whenever they feel that there is something that is a mistake or that there is something that seems to put them in danger, "said Tawfik. health professional, that he underwent e burnout or not, should be receptive to that. "

In a separate study published the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, Donna Shelley of NYU School of Medicine and colleagues found that only 13 , 5% of doctors working in small independent clinics in New York reported burnout, compared to about 55% of physicians.

"These results are particularly relevant to small-practice physicians, but they also provide clues." According to Tawfik, who did not participate in the New York University study, the ability of leaders of an organization to respond to the intervention of physicians can be a key factor in burnout. "While these features are often easier to achieve in small practices, they may not be less important in large organizations. Burnout is not just an individual problem, and organizational culture, flexibility and work support are all drivers of burnout and engagement relevant to the issues. doctors of all sizes. "