New Study Reveals a Surge in Healthcare Workers' Optimism

New data shows that healthcare workers are regaining their optimism about the industry despite experiencing high burnout, stress, and trauma during the pandemic. This information comes from a recent survey conducted by Morning Consult, which gathered insights from 1,006 U.S. healthcare workers between May 5 and May 18.

Here are the key findings from the survey:

• Over half of the respondents (58%) expressed optimism about the future of healthcare, while 37% had a more pessimistic outlook.
• Most respondents (61%) claimed they had effectively coped with work-related stressors in the past six months.
• When asked about their overall feelings towards their work, healthcare workers were evenly divided, with 42% feeling defeated and 42% feeling energized.

This research sheds light on the evolving mindset of healthcare workers and their resilience in the face of ongoing challenges.

Wisconsin Hospital Sues to Stop Employees From Going to Competitor (Video)

A Wisconsin court has blocked seven healthcare workers from accepting jobs at another hospital to prevent them from leaving ThedaCare, an Appleton-based facility.

The decision was made after ThedaCare requested a restraining order against these personnel changes because it would lead to direct competition with their own services and offerings, as well as jeopardize their Tier 3 ranking if the employees left for Ascension Northeast Wisconsin. 

What would you think if the hospital you worked at sued to stop its employees from going to its competors? 

Hospital Burnout Before and After the Pandemic (Video)

Earlier this year, I made a video about why people were leaving the medical field. This article on Becker's Hospital Review basically reinforced what I was saying. Burnout did not start when the pandemic started; it was already there. 

Pre-pandemic healthcare had lowercase burnout and uppercase burnout. 

Uppercase burnout is the textbook term coined in 1974 by American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, Ph.D., for the stress and exhaustion felt by those in service professions that make it tough to cope. In 2017, CEOs of the nation's most prominent health systems categorized burnout among physicians as a public health crisis and outlined an 11-step response. In 2019, the World Health Organization finally included burnout in its International Classification of Diseases, describing it as "a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed." Uppercase burnout is both a condition and a studied, well-known public health threat, like driving without a seatbelt. Read more here.