News photo by Mike Gonzalez MyMichigan Medical Center nurses Alpena, Sativa Savage, left, and Rochelle Lancewicz review a document on their desk at the hospital Thursday.
ALPENA — Forty-six percent of U.S. health care workers reported feeling exhausted often in 2022, according to a University of Chicago survey reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2018, the feeling of burnout rose to 32%, an increase of 14 points.
The survey also showed that harassment of health workers more than doubled, leading to more feelings of depression and anxiety.
Dr. Casey Chosewood, director and principal medical officer of the Office for Total Worker Health at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, told reporters on a conference call that health care workers face the harassment as “a kind of constellation of negative exposures, negative work.” experiences.
“So it could be, you know, anger between patients and staff, it could be between coworkers themselves,” Chosewood said. “Bullying, negative comments, actually, you know, unfortunate interactions between people would all constitute forms of harassment.”
MyMichigan Health, the owner of Midland-based Alpena Hospital, reported that 29% of its health care providers experienced burnout in 2022, but that figure increased six points to 35% in spring 2023 .
Dr. Pankaj Jandwani, system vice president of medical affairs at MyMichigan Health, said the mental health of healthcare providers has been a topic among MyMichigan administrators for some time.
“Through the (coronavirus) pandemic and into endemic, we know there are unique stressors for health care providers,” Jandwani said. “We saw a 29% burnout rate among providers in 2022, which is lower than the average of 46%, but that still leaves about one in four providers exhausted. So what do we do?”
Jandwani said MyMichigan has a webpage called MyWellbeing where employees can find resources and other helpful information.
On this website, MyMichigan defines wellness as “our ability to feel well, struggle well, and function effectively.”
“MyWellbeing shares health resources, company discounts and coaching with employees to help them with mental health,” Jandwani said. “In health care, many things can happen to our providers that can have a significant impact on their mental health. There are losses, heartbreak, and other emotions in a medical space, and we have resources to help workers in this field.
On the subject of workplace harassment, Jandwani mentioned assaults – particularly physical assaults – as a concern for employee safety. He said the medical field is filled with many feelings of stress and distressed patients can attack providers.
This year’s numbers so far show that MyMichigan employee assaults are at their lowest level since the health system began measuring them in 2018. Jandwani said training and crisis prevention for workers reduced potential damage.
“We now have a color-coded communication tool for people who may not have training,” Jandwani said. “Let’s say there’s a volunteer or someone else who takes care of the patients. The color-coded tool is intended to help them in case they need additional assistance.
Jandwani showed a reporter a document from one of MyMichigan’s Enhancing Wellbeing sessions, virtual meetings in which employees can share ideas and concerns. The document shows that employees made suggestions to health system leaders on how to improve.
The first improvement was in leadership visibility, stating that “some (non-clinical staff) said they had never met with leadership and wish they could.”
The CDC study analysis notes that in 2022, health workers experienced less burnout if they trusted management or had help from a supervisor. MyMichigan hopes to have leaders come regularly to all shifts and non-clinical staff areas.
“We come to work as ourselves,” Jandwani said. “We want to encourage provider well-being and ensure that they feel good, struggle well and function effectively. »
