Burnout is an epidemic among physicians, nurses, and healthcare workers. Unique to burnout is its severe morbidity and mortality consequences on professionals and patients alike. Solutions to combat burnout are either focused on antecedent factors, or on the individual professional. Of the individual approaches, coaching, emotional intelligence, self-leadership and self-care skills and tools have shown promise in creating a positive impact. Several obstacles linked to cost, time restraints, and delivery methods have led to limiting the potential effects of these approaches. In 2018, a group of 70 nurses and allied healthcare professionals underwent a 6-hour workshop focusing on burnout and the above-mentioned approaches. Subjective evaluation of the immediate impact was analyzed. 7 months later, another subjective survey was conducted to test the impact of the workshop on its desired goals. The results show a measurable positively powerful change that was maintained throughout. Discussion of the importance of coaching, its delivery method, and the reasons for its success follows. The results show that using group coaching while honoring the adult learners' characteristics and relying on intrinsic motivation are very powerful tools that the healthcare industry and coaches alike can use to help in fighting the epidemic of burnout.

No abstract

The neural circuitry associated with experiencing emotional pleasure such as derived from spiritual fulfillment, happiness, or love is likely the same or closely replicative of the neural circuitry associated with experiencing physical pleasure such as from sex, music, or warmth. The neural circuitry associated with experiencing physical pain such as from a headache, injury, or disease is likely the same or closely related to that associated with experiencing emotional pain such as social rejection, depression, or self-criticism. Attention management is essential for developing happiness and satisfaction, while the opposite, attention mismanagement, is a catalyst for unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Happiness is believed to have a set point in each person, and by all indications this set point can be enhanced through deliberate and supportive constructs. This chapter reviews the differences between positive and negative psychological components and how people can optimize them to support brain health and psychological well-being.

Physician burnout is a malignant, contagious phenomenon with significant morbidity and mortality for providers and patients alike. Major problems with physician burnout include lack of awareness, decreased ability to recognize symptoms and poor knowledge in combating the disease. Over 50% of students, residents and physicians are affected by severe burnout. Medical knowledge, practice approaches, and technical proficiency are taught and learned in residency training programs. This is also when self-care habits and work/life balance need to be taught and learned. The literature has shown that medical schools and residency programs/directors need two key ingredients in training that help prevent burnout and mitigate its effects: emotional intelligence (EI) and self-care. Another key factor in the development of physicians and combating burnout is leadership skills. The art and science of teaching medicine is hindered by the susceptibility of the trainers themselves to burnout and its consequences without having the tools to diagnose and combat it. For a residency-based intervention program that targets burnout, it has to start with its leaders/directors. Study: In 2016, 6 program directors from the Houston area underwent a two-day workshop that utilized emotional intelligence, wellness/self-care techniques, and leadership skills training to help them become aware of burnout, acknowledge, and identify it within them and their residents, and take action to combat it. Results: The study showed that the results of the intervention were not only qualitatively significant but were sustained 9 months later. Awareness of burnout, the acknowledgement and actions taken against had helped the directors on a personal, professional and leadership level. The overall average improvement/impact across the 15 items studied was 4.6/5. Conclusion: Training directors using the unique combination of emotional intelligence, self-care techniques and leadership skills maybe an effective intervention against combating burnout in residency programs.