Page 95
S U R G E O N
E R G O N O M I C S
(tinyurl.com/cxymb8p), physician burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a decreased sense of personal
accomplishment. Symptoms of burnout include treating patients and colleagues as objects, feeling emotionally depleted and exhausted, using poor judgment, cynicism, guilt, and an overall feeling of ineffectiveness.
The study suggests 32% to 38% of surgeons suffer from burnout. Surgeons who are burned out, it explains, exhibit poor judgment in patient care decision-making, show hostility toward patients, make more errors, are involved in more adverse events, become disengaged and develop strained relationships with co-workers and colleagues.
Additionally, research published in the June 2010 issue of the Annals of Surgery (tinyurl.com/bqwfp7r), showed 700 of nearly 8,000 surveyed members of the American College of Surgeons said they had made a major medical error in the 3 months before being polled, with more than 70% attributing the errors to individual mistakes strongly related to burnout and quality-of-life issues.
The study notes physician burnout and depression may contribute to errors, which, in a vicious circle, lead to significant physician distress. Even when system issues aren't the cause of errors, say the researchers, system strategies aiming to reduce surgeon distress and discomfort are still critical parts of solving physician burnout.
— Ramon Berguer, MD, FACS
level with the elbows. Provide surgeons with floor lifts if their stature, the patient's physical characteristics or the required surgical position inhibit setting the proper table height for ideal instrument angulation.
Ensure that patients are appropriately padded and restrained, so staff can position them at deeper angles — head down, head up, right lateral, left lateral — to facilitate minimally invasive approaches and create
