Part of Acknowledging Burnout is Acknowledging Grief – Then Healing can Happen
Imagine those past moments in your life when you were at your best self. For example, imagine you just recently experienced a success (personally or professionally) or were striving toward a success, or you were with one of your closest friends or family members or significant other and everything was just going well. You were engaged, having fun, feeling healthy and feeling calm and/or feeling well. Remembering these moments can buoy us during times of stress, strife, burnout and/or grief. Why?
(Photo: Dr. Raj Chand, CEO, Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, and James McKenna discussing physician burnout and wellness.)
Many people – especially many physicians – are experiencing loss these days. We know that burnout has spiked globally since the pandemic.[1] In working with many physician clients in the US and globally, the things they are grieving most now that come up often during our coaching dialogues are:
- Loss of autonomy
- Loss of mobility
- Loss of income
- Loss of safety
- Loss of connectedness
- Loss of colleague/friend (examples include person leaving the healthcare workforce; morbidity; mortality)
- Significant change
To facilitate the healing process, it’s important to acknowledge these things, individually and organizationally. Loss can contribute to feelings of grief[2]. That’s natural. It doesn’t mean that the individual experiencing the grief is weak.
(Photo: James McKenna facilitating a discussion about teamwork, leadership and wellness among clinician team members in Nevada.)
Therefore, remember there are ways to cope during those tough moments. Many physicians I work with will reach out to a trusted friend, colleague or significant other. Many won’t do that. Thus, in this brief post today, I humbly remind you (us) to make it OK to discuss grief and loss with fellow healthcare workers[3]. Important reminder: opening up a dialogue does NOT mean we have to SOLVE the issue for the other person. It simply means to show up for someone else, by inquiring (1v1, casually, privately), “How are you doing?” The typical response will be, “I’m fine.” Then, ask a different question: “A lot of people are going through difficult moments these days. What changes have happened to you in the last 18 months?” Then listen. If/when appropriate, maybe share a small bit of information about yourself. “I’m NOT feeling great these days.” Or, “I am feeling proud to be part of the healthcare community these days.” Or, “I’m angry about XYZ.”
The beginning of healing is acknowledgement. The acknowledgement can be part of your own personalized “resilience protocol”.
[1] Source: Medscape. Physician Income Drops, Burnout Spikes Globally in Pandemic; Marcia Frellick; September 11, 2020; https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/937271
[2] Source: Center for Disease Control (CDC); https://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/stress-coping/grief-loss/index.html . Page last reviewed: July 22, 2021. Content source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Population Health
[3] Source: https://jamesmckenna.org/2020/03/11/physician-resiliency-protocols/