(American Medical Association, 2023)
Every day, in numerous healthcare settings, there is a massive unseen struggle that occurs in offices — the well-being of our medical professionals. These individuals, particularly those in less lucrative roles such as medical assistants, are constantly facing an ongoing battle against burnout. This issue is especially critical in under-resourced areas where they are expected to meet increasing demands with less support. And this problem doesn’t strictly affect medical professionals, but instead it’s an issue that affects the quality of care every patient gets. This crisis of care needs the utmost attention from citizens, passionate healthcare workers, and most importantly, policy makers, to support those who care for us at our most vulnerable moments.
Burnout in healthcare professionals is a largely unrecognized threat that jeopardizes safe, high-quality patient care. Medical assistants, often at the frontline of healthcare services, experience immensely high levels of stress and burnout due to their critical role in patient care management and the intense weight they carry from their jobs: both emotional and personal. According to Doctors Lotte N. Dyrbye, Taid D. Shanafelt, and Christina A. Sinsky, stress levels in hospital employees, particularly among nursing and physician assistants, are alarmingly high and correlate directly with decreased patient safety and care quality. This disparity in burnout levels between lower and higher-paid healthcare professionals underscores the importance of addressing this crisis with increased funding for mental health resources and support systems. A medical assistant (who would like to remain anonymous) shares their concerns regarding this issue first-hand, “We book over 200 patients a day. Our doctor likes to spend the most time with each patient, but this ends up with our patients waiting for up to 3 hours after their scheduled time because we don’t have enough people to check-in the patients or to take their vitals.” These conditions are atrocious, and no patient nor professional should ever have to deal with this. This makes the medical field seem less attractive, at a time when the world needs more medical staff to combat the ever-apparent “symptoms” of burnout.
The risks of burnout are particularly acute among younger healthcare workers, who represent the future of the medical profession. A systematic review by Allison A. Norful and associates indicate that “younger workers and those with fewer years of experience appear to have higher burnout risk.” These findings suggest that resolving burnout in these younger populations is crucial, especially as they are tasked with addressing systemic issues within healthcare. Norful proposes solutions like improved sleep health, shorter shifts, social support, and workforce-enforced respect that can show signs of lower reported burnout rates. All of this can be put forth with policy changes, where funds can be allocated to programs and increased employment to decrease burnout. However, implementing these solutions is challenging in lower-income areas, where staffing shortages and limited resources exacerbate the difficulties. Tanjala S. Purnell’s 2016 article sheds light on how populations in low-income areas, including racial and ethnic minority groups, rural residents, and adults with low incomes, continue to experience suboptimal access to and quality of healthcare. Therefore, policy makers should prioritize implementing additional positions and support in healthcare facilities in lower-income areas.
We have reached an incredibly critical time in addressing the burnout crisis among healthcare workers, especially those serving in low-income areas. The entire community feels the effect of these incredibly high stakes, as there are strong correlations between high levels of burnout and decreased levels of patient care. As society moves forward, it’s highly necessary that policy makers and concerned citizens should advocate for better working conditions, fair compensation, support systems, and increased funding to allow for more job opportunities. The healthcare field cannot afford for this crisis to worsen, and it’s of our utmost importance that we should act now to sustain the health and well-being of every community. Investing in a better work environment for these healthcare workers will create a healthier society where patients are comfortable to visit their doctors. Besides, if healthcare workers create a stress-free, kind environment, people will be more willing to get themselves checked out frequently, eliminating health concerns right from the start. Every patient and every devoted professional deserves our dedication to this effort because of their dedication of their life to caring for others.
Works Cited
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. “National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports | Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality.” Ahrq.gov, 2022, www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/index.html.
Feist, Corey, et al. “Burnout and Suicide Threaten America’s Health Care Workers. They Deserve Better.” U.S. News (2024)
Gupta, Nishtha, et al. “Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Workers.” Industrial Psychiatry Journal, vol. 30, no. Suppl 1, 2021, pp. S282–S284, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8611576/, https://doi.org/10.4103/0972-6748.328830.
Poncet, Marie Cécile, et al. “Burnout Syndrome in Critical Care Nursing Staff.” American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, vol. 175, no. 7, Apr. 2007, pp. 698–704, www.atsjournals.org/doi/full/10.1164/rccm.200606-806OC, https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.200606-806oc.
Prasad, Kriti, et al. “Prevalence and Correlates of Stress and Burnout among U.S. Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Cross-Sectional Survey Study.” EClinicalMedicine, vol. 35, no. 100879, May 2021, p. 100879, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2021.100879.
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