Hotline delivers help for struggling clinicians within 24 hours
Burnout among clinicians is a nationwide issue, hovering at about 50 percent. At Cincinnati Children’s, we’re on par with that rate, but Paul Samuels, MD, chair of the Professional Health Committee, is working with colleagues Jessica Kahn, MD; Derek Wheeler, MD; Christy White, MD; Jamilah Hackworth, EdD; and Michelle Stultz, RN, to reverse this trend.
Burnout manifests itself in a thousand different ways, says Samuels. “There’s a high degree of frustration on the job, a sense that clinicians have little control over their work environment, that there are chronic issues that are nearly impossible to resolve.”
Other contributing factors include:
- Changes in the nature of healthcare. “The complexity of patients is far greater than what I saw at the beginning of my career,” says Samuels. “I can walk into the OR and see a patient who, back when I started, would not have survived. And I’m responsible for keeping that patient alive.”
- Technology. Electronic medical records are both wonderful and deeply frustrating for many providers.
- Production pressure. Clinicians are being asked to do more with less, says Samuels, and the feeling is that, when bad things happen, the system doesn’t provide respite. “You just plow ahead. There’s another patient waiting.”
- Reluctance to show vulnerability. Despite an increased openness about mental health issues, there is still a stigma among clinicians associated with asking for help. Says Samuels, “With the volume of work that needs to be done, working 50, 60 or 70 hours a week, it’s difficult to take that caring instinct and apply it to oneself.”
Help is at hand
Samuels and his team have forged a partnership with the Lindner Center of HOPE and established a program designed to make asking for and getting help easier and faster. The program offers a hotline clinicians can call – 513-536-0311 – to be seen by a psychiatrist at the Lindner Center within 24 hours. All members of the Cincinnati Children’s medical staff, including physicians, dentists, residents, fellows and advanced practice nurses, are eligible. Payment for treatment is the responsibility of the individual and his/her insurance, but access to care is accelerated.
“Before we started this program, there was no mechanism in place to get immediate help for yourself or a colleague who is struggling,” explains Samuels. “This has been a concern for other hospitals, as well. In fact, nearly all of the hospitals in the Cincinnati area have formed a consortium to deal with this situation. Our program with the Lindner Center has been so successful that we are about to roll it out city-wide on July 1. So instead of covering just the medical staff here, it will cover roughly 7,000 clinicians regionally.”
Samuels makes the distinction between employee assistance programs (EAPs) and the hotline for clinicians. “The EAP is a very important program, and if you’re experiencing difficulty coping with the stresses of life, it’s often an effective way to address it. Our program for the medical staff is complementary to the EAP. It’s meant for situations that require a more aggressive approach, for example, if you are worried about a colleague with depression or anxiety who is clearly struggling with their professional or private life.”
A healthier future
Samuels is optimistic about the impact he and his team can have on clinician burnout, but it won’t happen overnight. “It’s a bigger issue than a lack of resilience on the part of clinicians,” he says. “We have a long way to go in developing an appreciation of what clinicians need to provide an environment where they feel their work is meaningful and valued.”
Clinicians’ needs are changing as newer generations join the fold. “Young physicians have different professional aspirations than their older counterparts, and we have to take that into consideration,” he says.
Samuels thinks a lot about what his profession will be like in 10 to 20 years. “I’ll be retired, but my fellows will be mid-career physicians,” he says. “The time to act in addressing these issues is now if we expect to have a healthy clinical workforce in 2035.”
If you are interested in tackling clinician well-being, contact Samuels at 513-636-7339 or Paul.Samuels@cchmc.org.
