The bureaucracy for doctors “burns more” than the hours worked or the salary received. The paperwork and administrative tasks that they have to carry out during their work is a frustration for these health professionals and the 61 percent of them acknowledge that the greatest stress of their day is caused by doing “too many bureaucratic tasks”. Another reason that contributes to the exhaustion of doctors is the lack of respect among peers by 38 percent. In addition, 37 percent of the professionals accuse their frustration at work “too many hours exercising” and 34 percent worry that your salary is not enough.
These are some of the data collected by the 2023 physician burnout and depression report “I cry but nobody cares”produced by Medscape. They assure that the three main factors that lead to these feelings are the same as five years ago.
Continuing with the reasons that contribute to this stress among health professionals, 31 percent of them accuse it of a absence of control or autonomy. It is emphasized that 25 percent of physicians suffer from Electronic Health Records (EHR), a system for hospitals and clinics that stores chronologically and in digital format all aspects related to a patient’s health. On average, physicians spent 1.84 hours per day outside of work hours completing EHR paperwork, according to research published in a JAMA Internal Medicine report. that adds up 9.2 hours dedicated each week to work outside of working hours.
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On average, physicians spent 1.84 hours per day outside of business hours completing Electronic Health Records documentation |
Emergencies and Internal Medicine, the specialties with “most burned” doctors
The study shows that the Emergency Medicine leads the list of specialties with the most stressed professionals. They are 65 percent of them, a figure that has been growing since 2018, when they were at 45 percent. those of Interna they suffer from greater depression and burnout now, 60 percent of doctors, than five years ago, when they were at 46 percent.
The specialty of Pediatrics is next on the most frustrated list, with 59 percent of professionals saying “feeling burned out at work”followed by Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infectious diseases that reached 58 percent and Family medicine with 57 percent.
Of all the specialties, 15 of them have more than 50 percent of their doctors stressed. Neurology, Palliative Care and Anesthesiology are at 55 percent. Those who present less feelings of stress are the professionals of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, by 37 percent. They are followed by Pathologies, with 39 percent of their doctors frustrated, Cardiology 43 percent, Nephrology, 44 percent, Orthopedics 45 percent, Plastic Surgery, 46 percent, and Urology, Psychiatry, and Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 47 percent.
More than half of the doctors say they are “exhausted”
53 percent of the doctors who participated in the report acknowledged being “burned out”, which is “a big change” from the Medscape study published five years ago. In the 2018 paper, 42 percent of doctors said they were exhausted. Additionally, 23 percent now report depression compared to 15 percent five years ago.
Burnout also affects a greater number of female doctors that of men In 2018, 38 percent of men and 48 percent of women reported such burnout. Now they are 46 percent male doctors and 63 percent female doctors. In addition, 30 percent of all of them claim to have more than two years feeling like this.
Some of the conclusions reached by the professionals participating in the study are that compensation “not worth it and does not increase appropriately with the cost of living” or that doctors are required to do too many different tasks and “there is not time to do them all.”
Regarding the consequences derived from the Covid-19 pandemic, 42 percent say that the health crisis has affected their happiness in their working life “in some way” During last year. 37 percent conclude that they have done so in a “significant” way.
Although it may contain statements, data or notes from health institutions or professionals, the information contained in Redacción Médica is edited and prepared by journalists. We recommend to the reader that any health-related questions be consulted with a health professional.