Page 96 - IDF Journal 2023

IDF News – Spring 2023
Managing Workplace Stress
Dr Sara Beleil
Work-related stress can occur when pressures and demands
at work become too much for doctors to cope with. Short-term work-related stress is common in instances when employees have to meet deadlines or complete challenging tasks. However, when work-related stress becomes chronic, it
can have a negative impact on health and wellbeing, putting individuals at a higher risk
of developing mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. The impact on the employee’s health from working in a stressful environment can make it harder for them to do their job effectively. To say that COVID-19 has had a massive impact on everyone’s lives would be an understatement. Doctors rose to the challenge despite the uncertainty and inexperience in managing
the disaster and devastation
of the pandemic across the globe. It is important to note that doctors being an integral part of the disaster response, are most at risk of traumatic stress exposure. Throughout the pandemic, doctors were exposed to high psychological distress whilst worrying about catching COVID-19 themselves and taking it home to their families. Like others, they also had to deal with bereavements and, for some, significant economic difficulties.
What is stress?
Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension and is the body’s response to feeling threatened or under pressure. Manageable stress can have a positive impact on individuals as it can help enhance motivation, improve mental function, help boost memory and increase support-seeking behaviour. When stress becomes too difficult to manage it can lead to negative health consequences such as anxiety, depression, headaches, a weakened immune system, heart disease, high blood pressure, high
blood sugar, neurological problems and digestive issues.
What is Burnout?
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained and are unable to meet constant demands. Job burnout can be triggered by perfectionism, lack of control, work-life imbalance, lack of support, dysfunctional workplace dynamics and a heavy workload. Burnout is especially common among healthcare workers, “almost a third of UK doctors are suffering from burnout, stress and compassion fatigue” (BMJ 2020). Doctors are thought to
be at a greater risk of burnout as they work longer hours in highly pressured
environments due to workforce shortages caused by the increasing demand for staff during the pandemic and their wellbeing is suffering as a result.
Burnout can be measured in an occupational setting using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). MBI is a 22- item survey that covers four domains. These include changes in behaviour
such as clock watching, dragging feet
to work, loss of creative problem-solving ability and withdrawal from colleagues. There are also changes in feelings, with loss of humour, a persistent sense of
guilt and self-blame, and feelings of discouragement and indifference with
a sense of powerlessness. Changes
in thinking can result in an inability to concentrate, resistance to change and having a dehumanising attitude towards patients. Finally, changes in health are demonstrated with disordered sleep, lower immunity with frequent ailments and precipitation of physical and mental health problems. It is important to address work-related stress and burnout as they can lead employees to develop maladaptive coping strategies in the long- term. Maladaptive coping strategies often include alcohol and drug misuse, physical withdrawal from co-workers, increased absenteeism, arriving for work late and leaving early and lowering of professional standards, to name a few.
STAGE 1 HONEYMOON
enthusiasm
STAGE 2
ONSET OF STRESS
stagnation
STAGE 3
CHRONIC STRESS
frustration
STAGE 4 BURNOUT
apathy
STAGE 5
HABITUAL BURNOUT
intervention
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PHYSICAL EXHAUSTION
MENTAL and EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION
Figure 1. Simplified 5-stage model for the development of burnout