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Staffing Shortages Lead to Burnout

Throughout the last few years, there has been a downturn in the number of employees working in healthcare. Physician burnout has become more common among the various departments. From emergency medicine to cardiology and neurology to family medicine, understaffing is very prominent in the community. Patients have seen a change when scheduling appointments, sometimes having to wait weeks to get an appointment. In taking account of the spreading issue throughout Florida, an interview with Dr. Mark Dobbertien, surgeon and president of the Duval County

Medical Society, states that there is a major problem for patients who live outside of major metropolitan areas regarding getting appointments and the care they need quickly.

The Florida Hospital

Association has stated that there is a looming crisis in the future when it comes to access to healthcare. “I think there are pain points, and those pain points are certain hospital systems that have chosen not to have certain service lines in their repertoire,” stated Dobbertien in the interview. He pointed out that in recent surveys, patients are waiting two to six weeks to get an appointment with their primary care providers.

The pandemic has been a large reason for many of the staffing shortages, but there is more than just that influencing the lower number of medical staff available for patients. “Demand for healthcare skyrockets as our population ages, something Florida’s population has been doing by leaps and bounds. Doctors are aging, too. Sixty percent of them are 50 years or older,” said Dobbertien in his news interview. According to a report by HIS Markit, Florida could have physicians available for 76 percent of its population by 2035, leaving the state unable to provide for nearly 25 percent of its residents. While this number is scary, there is a lot of hope with the many world-renowned healthcare systems in the state. Justin Senior, CEO of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, one of the individuals that commissioned the report, said that more than 26,000 of Florida’s physicians are expected to retire by 2035. “The number of retirements in the physician community that is looming over the next 15 years, it’s going to be a breathtaking thing–a really rapid pace,” said Senior. “As the state continues to grow, and its population continues to age, the state will need more medical care. At the rate that the state produces residents and physicians, it will have a hard time making up this difference.” Studies have been conducted to see best practices on how to satisfy staffing issues. A study conducted in March 2022 tracked changes in burnout and satisfaction with work-life integration in physicians and the general U.S. working population from 2011 to 2020. More than 7,510 physicians participated in the survey tracking emotional exhaustion and depersonalization scores. Overall, it was found that many specialties were more heavily affected by COVID-19. The study found that there was an improvement in burnout and satisfaction from 2017-2020, but COVID-19 caused some physicians, depending on their field, to suffer greater than others. Some of this

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