Burned Out Doctors Make More Mistakes: It’s OK To Talk Openly About This With Them

"It's okay to bring up the issue of burnout and errors with your doctor," Kyle Bradford Jones, MD, tells SurvivorNet. "Ask them their thoughts on the topic, what they do to avoid burnout, and what steps they take to avoid medical errors." Jones, a family physician and associate professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of Utah School of Medicine, is author Fallible: A Memoir of a Young Physician's Struggle with Mental Illness.

Burnout Is Common Among Doctors of All Kinds

We all get burned out on our day-to-day responsibilities sometimes. Your doctors are no exception. On-the-job burnout for them usually means that they feel one or more the following: emotional exhaustion; a distant or indifferent attitude towards their work; or a low evaluation of the worth of their personal accomplishments.

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This type of professional exhaustion is more common in some medical specialties than others. About one-third to one-half of doctors say they are burned out, depending on their specialty. Among cancer doctors, about half have at least one symptom of burnout. In total, just under half of all doctors feel this way.

Professional Burnout May Lead to More On-the-Job Mistakes

Doctors who feel overwhelmed by burnout may be more likely to make little or big mistakes at work.

Researchers surveyed 1,354 doctors. The doctors answered questions that measured burnout, depression, and how often they committed different types of medical errors of varying severity. The types of errors included on the survey ranged from ordering the wrong medication to committing an error that hurt a patient.

Related: A Comprehensive Electronic Medical Record Reduces Risk for Medical Errors

The researchers found that docs who were burned out were almost 50% more likely to report making mistakes than doctors who didn't show signs of burnout. But, it matters that doctors themselves reported the mistakes in the survey. That means the physicians know about the errors they've made.

 

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"No physician will see himself or herself making errors and not take something from that to avoid errors in the future. Physicians are too invested in their patients and tend to be perfectionists, meaning that they take efforts to avoid repeating all known errors."

What It Means For You

While these findings may be troubling, the study might not have direct implications for people in cancer treatment.

"Given how common burnout is among physicians, it can be scary to see a strong scientific relationship between a physician feeling burned out and making more medical errors. For what it's worth, physicians that treat cancer were a very small part of the study," Jones explains.

Related: Mental Health & Cancer: A Third of Patients Aren’t Getting the Help They Need

And, there is a silver lining to all this burnout: health care systems have begun to recognize and address it. Many health care facilities are taking proactive steps to address and reduce burnout among their physicians. They are also making strides to change the culture around burnout and emotional exhaustion. In the past, doctors may have avoided getting help for problems related to their mental health for fear of stigma. That's not so true today, Jones says.

"Physicians are encouraged to talk about it openly and not to worry about any stigma or fear of losing their job or their license by seeking help. And specific efforts are being made to help doctors avoid burnout in the first place."

If you are worried about physician burnout and your doctor's risk of making mistakes, it's ok to bring this up with your doctor. "The type of doctor you can trust," Jones says, "is the type that will not be offended by your questions and is willing to discuss the issue openly."

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