A 2019 National Academy of Medicine report noted that between 35 and 54 percent of U.S. nurses and physicians “have substantial symptoms of burnout.”
And that was before the pandemic hit.
“Some of the usual buffers against burnout, such as family and social support, have been upended during the COVID pandemic,” Margy Sanders, M.A., LSW, project director, Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program, and associate professor of family and community medicine at NEOMED, noted. “COVID-associated burnout has resulted in significant increases in staff turnover and provider shortages.”
In early 2022, Sanders received a three-year, $2.17 million grant from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration under the Health and Public Safety Workforce Resiliency Training Program. Through the grant, Sanders and Denise Kropp, project manager, organize weekend retreats for health professionals at Salt Fork Lodge in Cambridge, Ohio, using the Healer’s Art curriculum to help attendees develop resiliency and avoid burnout.
Read more in Ignite, NEOMED’s human interest magazine.