As the Pandemic Recedes, Will Moral Distress Continue to Surge?

Palliative care practitioners have encountered morally distressing situations during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have supported their colleagues experiencing moral distress. Familiarity with the concept of moral distress and with COVID-specific causes of moral distress may help palliative care practitioners recognize moral distress in themselves and in their colleagues. This essay provides a brief review of the concept of moral distress, a list of potential COVID-19 specific causes of moral distress, and a list of organizational, team, and individual interventions to promote resilience.

Therapeutic Strategies to Tackle Burnout and Emotional Exhaustion in Frontline Medical Staff: Narrative Review.

Burnout and emotional exhaustion in frontline healthcare workers and their implications for the health of patients, individual clinicians, and organizations are increasingly described among various healthcare settings. Yet therapeutic strategies to address burnout and other work-related conditions are outpaced by innumerable descriptions of burnout prevalence across healthcare disciplines. This review provides a framework that should be helpful in beginning the process of addressing burnout and its related conditions. It begins with an elucidation of key inter-related concepts of work-related conditions that should be considered in the differential diagnosis along with other mental health conditions that are concomitantly elevated in healthcare clinicians (eg, depression and substance abuse) but require a different approach to treatment. Factors that lead to increased resilience, engagement, and thriving in clinical workplaces are considered. While strategies are dichotomized between organizational level interventions and individual or personal interventions to address burnout, the idea of identifying and addressing root causes of burnout and related conditions is highlighted. The efficacy and feasibility of interventions that incorporate mindfulness-based stress reduction, cognitive behavioral strategies, meaning-centered therapy, and compassion training are highlighted as interventions with proven efficacy and durability that should be considered based on work-related stressors and appeal to clinicians.

Using a New Model of Electronic Health Record Training to Reduce Physician Burnout: A Plan for Action.

Physician burnout in the United States has been growing at an alarming rate, and health care organizations are beginning to invest significant resources in combating this phenomenon. Although the causes for burnout are multifactorial, a key issue that affects physicians is that they spend a significant proportion of their time interacting with their electronic health record (EHR) system, primarily because of the need to sift through increasing amounts of patient data, coupled with a significant documentation burden. This has led to physicians spending increasing amounts of time with the EHR outside working hours trying to catch up on paperwork ("pajama time"), which is a factor linked to burnout. In this paper, we propose an innovative model of EHR training using high-fidelity EHR simulations designed to facilitate efficient optimization of EHR use by clinicians and emphasize the importance of both lifelong learning and physician well-being.

COVID-19 Pandemic: Fear of Contagion among Frontline Healthcare Professionals

@#Throughout history when an infectious epidemic strikes a community, healthcare professionals are challenged to preserve their own safety and fulfilling their commitment to continue serving their patients and the community in dealing with the infectious epidemic. This innate fear can subvert the effective functioning of the frontline doctor in the epidemic. This article applies the principles of professional ethics to the keeping of frontline healthcare professionals safe and empowered to continue discharging their professional duties and responsibilities. Central to this is the healthcare professional’s wellness and professional resilience.