Wellbeing: Overview + SIG resources

Abstract
Purpose of review: Healthcare provider burnout is a real phenomenon. The rates of burnout are on the rise. Burnout-associated suicide amongst physicians represents a real "public health crisis." This article discusses the drivers of burnout and offers some strategies to mitigate burnout and improve well-being.

Recent findings: Measures of burnout such as stress, micro, and macro-aggression in the workplace have a psychological impact on staff. Additionally, a measurable economic price is exacted when an organization fails to address the lack of well-being burnout represents.

Summary: As healthcare providers struggle to survive and deal with the complex new set of problems and obstacles that the COVID-19 pandemic, the National economic crisis, and the increasing regulatory obligations have summoned forth, professional burnout rates have risen drastically. With good leadership, developing comprehensive programs to identify, track, and treat burnout symptoms and improve well-being in the work environment can result in greater work satisfaction and save resources.

Despite calls for greater awareness of high rates of depression and suicide among physicians, estimates suggest that only about 1% of medical students with major depressive disorder disclose it as a disability.

Abstract
Physician burnout and poor mental health are prevalent and often stigmatised. Anaesthetists may be at particular risk and this is further increased for women anaesthetists due to biases and inequities within the specialty. However, gender-related risk factors for and experiences of burnout and poor mental health remain under-researched and under-reported. This negatively impacts individual practitioners, the anaesthesia workforce and patients and carries significant financial implications. We discuss the impact of anaesthesia and gender on burnout and mental health using the COVID-19 pandemic as an example illustrating how women and men differentially experience stressors and burnout. COVID-19 has further accentuated the gendered effects of burnout and poor mental health on anaesthetists and brought further urgency to the need to address these issues. While both personal and organisational factors contribute to burnout and poor mental health, organisational changes that recognise and acknowledge inequities are pivotal to bolster physician mental health.

The Australian Psychological Society has prepared a guide for Australians, outlining some useful strategies which can help both adults and children cope with the stress or anxiety experienced as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

The extreme stress, uncertainty, and often difficult medical nature of global infectious disease outbreaks, such as Coronavirus (COVID-19), require special attention to the needs of healthcare personnel. Taking care of yourself and encouraging others to practice self-care sustains the ability to care for those in need.

A page containing CSTS fact sheets and other resources to support the health and well-being of communities impacted by COVID-19 can be found here.