Breaking the Burnout Cycle: Solutions for Clinicians and Organizations

Burnout in healthcare is not a new problem, but the scale of the issue has reached critical levels. For many clinicians, the advice to “prioritize self-care” and “build resilience” feels like an impossible task in environments where high stress, long hours, and limited support are the norm. While efforts are often well-intentioned, organizations may overlook the systemic factors driving burnout, leaving clinicians to shoulder responsibilities they cannot reasonably bear alone.

This disconnect begs the question: If we know the basics of managing burnout, what comes next? How can clinicians advocate for meaningful change, and how can healthcare organizations support their teams effectively?

Why addressing burnout requires a systemic approach

Healthcare professionals face uniquely high risks of burnout due to the demanding and emotionally taxing nature of their work. The consequences of burnout extend far beyond the individual clinician—it impacts patient safety, workforce stability, and overall organizational performance:

• Patient safety is at risk. Burnout doubles the likelihood of clinicians reporting medical errors, jeopardizing the quality of care provided to patients (Shin, 2022).

• Clinicians’ health is compromised. Chronic stress, compounded by factors such as fatigue, overwork, rigid schedules, and lack of adequate breaks, significantly impacts the mental health of healthcare workers—even if they do not meet the diagnostic criteria for a mental health disorder (Søvold et al., 2021).
• Staffing shortages are exacerbated. Burnout drives professionals to leave their roles, worsening staffing shortages and turnover rates.

Despite this urgency, burnout is often framed as an individual problem, with clinicians expected to implement personal wellness strategies to counteract systemic challenges. This approach ignores the reality: Burnout is a workplace problem that demands organizational solutions. When the responsibility of addressing burnout is placed solely on those already overwhelmed, meaningful progress becomes impossible.

Organizations must take ownership of creating environments that support clinicians. From leadership-driven cultural shifts to actionable team-level changes, a systemic approach is essential to reduce burnout and promote resilience.

Evidence-based insights from a webinar experience

In August 2024, I presented the Mitigating Burnout: Tools for Yourself and Your Team webinar to over 1,500 healthcare professionals. This session addressed the growing issue of burnout in healthcare, equipping participants with evidence-based strategies to care for themselves and support their teams.

I have also presented the Mitigating Burnout: Introduction to a Coach Approach in Healthcare webinar, where I introduced how you can apply coaching techniques to patient interactions and team dynamics. By fostering a coaching culture, healthcare professionals can enhance collaboration, reduce burnout, and improve both patient care and job satisfaction.

Both webinars are now available on Medbridge’s platform, offering flexible access for a variety of healthcare professionals. Whether you’re a physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech-language pathologist, athletic trainer, or nurse, the webinar provides tailored strategies to address the unique challenges of your role.

Actionable strategies for clinicians and organizations

Burnout is a systemic challenge requiring collaboration between clinicians and organizational leaders. These strategies are designed to bridge the gap between individual resilience and organizational accountability:

Watch the webinar as a team

Encourage your team or department to watch the Mitigating Burnout: Tools for Yourself and Your Team webinar together. This shared experience can serve as a starting point for open discussions about stress management and well-being, fostering a collective understanding of the challenges and actionable solutions. 

The webinar emphasizes six key practices for addressing burnout: understanding its impact, recognizing its signs, assessing personal stress levels, practicing stress relief techniques like diaphragmatic breathing, and creating tailored action plans. Incorporating these insights into team discussions can provide a foundation for systemic change while empowering individual resilience.

Incorporate simple, team-based stress management practices

Leaders can integrate brief, evidence-based practices like diaphragmatic breathing into daily routines. For example, beginning meetings with a 60-second breathing exercise, as demonstrated in the webinar, can provide mental clarity and emotional relief. These consistent small actions contribute to building a healthier workplace culture over time.

Evaluate burnout as a key metric in employee performance reviews

Including burnout assessments in regular performance reviews enables healthcare organizations to better understand the emotional and mental well-being of their teams. Tools such as the burnout evaluation framework from the webinar’s toolkit help leaders identify stressors, adjust workloads, and make data-driven decisions to support their staff effectively.

Advocate for a coaching culture

A coaching culture is a powerful tool for building resilience, fostering collaboration, and providing emotional support within healthcare teams. Healthcare organizations can promote this approach by investing in training programs that equip leaders with practical coaching techniques. These programs empower managers and supervisors to facilitate meaningful conversations, provide constructive feedback, and support their team members’ professional growth.

By encouraging peer coaching, organizations create an environment where healthcare professionals can share experiences, offer guidance, and collaboratively solve problems, strengthening team cohesion and enhancing overall workplace dynamics. Regular check-ins can help identify burnout early, while open communication fosters collaboration and innovation. Together, these practices create a supportive environment that improves clinician well-being and patient care.

Building a healthier future in healthcare

Burnout is more than just an individual challenge—it’s a systemic issue that affects clinicians, organizations, and patients alike. By moving beyond surface-level solutions and embracing actionable, evidence-based strategies, healthcare professionals and leaders can work together to create lasting change.

Clinicians must feel empowered to advocate for meaningful change, while organizations take ownership of creating cultures that prioritize well-being. Through shared responsibility and actionable approaches, healthcare systems can break the burnout cycle and build a sustainable, supportive future.

References 

1. 1. Shin, P., Desai, V., Conte, A. H., & Qiu, C. (2023). Time Out: The Impact of Physician Burnout on Patient Care Quality and Safety in Perioperative Medicine. The Permanente journal, 27(2), 160–168. https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/23.015
   2. Søvold LE, Naslund JA, Kousoulis AA, Saxena S, Qoronfleh MW, Grobler C and Münter L (2021) Prioritizing the Mental Health and Well-Being of Healthcare Workers: An Urgent Global Public Health Priority. Front. Public Health 9:679397. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.679397