Legend has it that a frog will jump out if placed into hot water, but if you raise the temperature gradually it will stay until it’s cooked. This is an apt analogy for how older physicians currently view their jobs. If we were to jump from college graduation into our current high-stress, low-control jobs, many of us would jump right out. Yet, our current jobs have evolved gradually over the last 20 to 30 years, and we manage to stay in them. The key to not getting cooked is to prevent and treat burnout as it arises.
I recently came across a useful way of organizing my thoughts on my personal struggle against burnout. I found it on Dike Drummond’s website (TheHappyMD.com). He calls it “The Burnout Prevention Matrix,” and it’s readily available in exchange for opting in with your email address.
I had been searching for some time for a framework that doesn’t put the entire onus for health on physicians and nurses. Dike’s matrix includes responsibility for organizations to reduce stress and energy drains on their employees, to increase recharge activities and efficiency for their employees.
Organizations will hone in on the word “efficiency” here, I’m guessing, because increased efficiency can lead to higher revenues, but what about the need for employees to have time to recharge? (more…)