Medical Personnel Burnout Could Mean Problems For Patients, Wisconsin Researcher Finds

A national study co-led by a Wisconsin researcher indicates burnout among doctors, nurses and other health care personnel is a significant problem. The report released Wednesday by the National Academy of Medicine also outlines some ways to prevent and reduce burnout. The study says between one-third and one-half of U.S. clinicians experience significant burnout symptoms. Clinicians are doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacist — any health care personnel having direct contact with patients. The report says about half of medical students and residents experience burnout. Burnout is defined as emotional exhaustion, detachment and a low sense of personal accomplishment, according to the report. Pascale Carayon , a University of Wisconsin-Madison industrial and systems engineering professor, co-chaired the committee that did the research. Carayon says a lot of the burnout is related to workplace stress. "Such as high workload, high time pressure, technologies that are not usable such as the