(I am slightly below the word count so any feedback on where I can expand is greatly appreciated!! Also, should I include a paragraph about my own personal experience? Thank you for any feedback!!!!)
For the prompt, the research paper can be on any topic of our choosing - we've been working on honing in our topic for a few weeks now. The research paper must be a persuasive essay proposing a solution for our topic. MLA format
Silent Strain in the Laboratory
Every test result that doctors and patients depend on comes from the laboratory professionals who work long hours under intense pressure and little recognition. Medical laboratory professionals work behind the scenes performing critical tests that help physicians diagnose illnesses, monitor diseases, and determine treatments. Despite their importance, laboratory workers are often overlooked, understaffed, and overworked. Long hours, staff shortages, emotional strain, and increasing workloads contribute to burnout, which can negatively impact the employees and the hospitals/companies. Healthcare facilities and companies should be responsible for providing for the mental well-being of their lab staff. Laboratory staff burnout can be prevented by providing emotional support, promoting work-life balance, and reducing excessive workloads.
What is burnout? The term burnout was first coined in the 1970s by American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, who used it to describe the mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion caused by working in the healthcare industry or for caregivers (Schaufeli). The term has since been applied to many different careers and industries. Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North developed the twelve stages of burnout seen in career professionals. The burnout phases are as follows:
"1. Compulsion to prove oneself
2. Working harder
3. Neglecting own needs
4. Displacement of conflicts and needs
5. No longer any time for non-work-related needs
6. Increasing denial of the problem, decreasing flexibility of thought and behavior
7. Withdrawal, lack of direction, cynicism
8. Behavioral changes/psychological reactions
9. Depersonalization: loss of contact with self and own needs
10. Inner emptiness: anxiety, addictive behavior
11. Increasing feeling of meaninglessness and lack of interest
12. Physical exhaustion that can be life-threatening" (Kaschka et al.)
It is easy to assume that burnout is simply being exhausted by your job, but in reality, it goes much deeper than that. Burnout is not currently recognized as a medical condition or mental disorder, but it is a psychological and emotional response to unmanaged stress that can lead to anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. It is crucial to recognize the signs and symptoms of burnout and remedy them as soon as possible to prevent extreme physical exhaustion that can threaten one's life.
The COVID-19 pandemic was detrimental in many aspects, but especially in healthcare, leading to staffing shortages, supply distribution issues, a lack of resources, and an overflow of sick patients. When most think of healthcare, nurses, practitioners, specialists, and doctors come to mind, but rarely do we think of one of the backbones of the medical field: laboratory science. Since patients don't see the behind-the-scenes work of laboratory professionals, they often go unnoticed and unrecognized, but that doesn't mean that the field was unimpacted by the pandemic. When COVID-19 testing first became available, it was outsourced to laboratories, and demand grew exponentially. Luckily, at-home tests are available to the general public, but that doesn't erase the detrimental impacts the pandemic had on laboratories worldwide. COVID-19 led to extremely high rates of burnout in medical staff, and that includes laboratory science. Many people are aware of the mental strain on healthcare workers, but few recognize it extends to lab staff as well.
More and more workers within the healthcare and lab sciences are reporting symptoms of burnout since the pandemic. "In [a] 6-year survey study of VHA health care workers, burnout levels generally decreased following the pandemic but remain high compared with prepandemic levels (Mohr et al.). The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the problems and lack of support for healthcare workers and laboratory staff. In recent years, burnout among laboratory professionals has continued to rise due to increased workloads and ongoing staffing shortages. According to a survey published by the American Society of Clinical Pathology, over 85% of laboratory professionals experienced burnout at some point in their career, and nearly half said that they were currently dealing with burnout symptoms (Garcia et al.). Many workers have considered leaving their profession entirely due to high stress, long hours, odd shifts, and overall poor work-life balance.
It's estimated that 119 physicians commit suicide each year (Gold et al.), and although the rate has decreased since 1980, female health professionals are at a higher risk for suicide compared to the general population (Zimmermann et al). Addressing burnout in healthcare professionals as a whole is not only an industry issue but an individual issue as well. High rates of burnout lead to higher levels of staff turnover and lower quality of work, but also completely wipe out the individual as a whole. If the employee reaches the last stage of burnout, they have little to no interest in life at all and are at a point of exhaustion that it becomes a detriment to their health. "Exhaustion is linked with risk of suicidal ideation in employees not in health care service, regardless of depression status. Exhausted employees, particularly those having poor job resources, should be recognized as an at-risk group." (Dae Jong Oh et al.) If burnout is not addressed early on, it can develop into depression, disillusionment, and could catastrophically lead to suicide. It is an ethical dilemma as well due to there being accessible and viable solutions to prevent burnout as a whole.
Burnout among laboratory professionals greatly impacts hospitals, healthcare facilities, and companies. High rates of burnout lead to higher levels of staff turnover and lower quality of work. Low job satisfaction in healthcare means career changes, nursing shortages, and mass exoduses. The decreased number of staff leads to heavier workloads on existing staff, slower turnaround time for results, and thus lower quality of care. The staff that does remain at the hospital/facility become only more stressed and overworked. Critical and STAT testing may not be as efficient as they could be, which negatively impacts the physicians, nurses, and especially the patient. Hospitals and healthcare facilities claim "patient first" values; however, one of the best ways to ensure quality patient care is to invest in their employees. If an employee is completely burnt out, they have little to no interest in their own life and well-being, let alone a patient at their place of work.
Workers within the laboratory and healthcare industry are often cited as the most overworked profession. Decreasing the average daily workload is needed to decrease burnout in the short term. "Building on this result, we found a positive association between workload and exhaustion, and this relationship was strongest when job control was lower." (Portoghese et al.) When lab staff feel as though their work is out of their control and they are given unreasonable expectations, burnout sets in quickly. "In turn, improved working conditions are demonstrated by a low workload and exhaustion level, which can also be attributed to an increase in job control." (Portoghese et al.) This finding from the Journal of Safety and Health at Work illustrates that when staff feel supported, they have strong job satisfaction, and that gets reflected in their quality of work. "However, in instances where it is difficult to hire new employees due to economic and regulatory constraints, managers can provisionally reduce the workload by providing employees with a flexible schedule, such as a floating workforce (primarily applicable to nurses)." (Portoghese et al.). Employees need to feel in control of their job, and that includes managing their workload. If cases are equally distributed to workers and reasonable work expectations are set, the less likely it is that laboratory professionals are going to feel the effects of burnout.
The only true solutions to fixing the overworked healthcare and laboratory workforce are to increase the pool of labor and provide adequate mental health resources. Many hospitals and labs aren't fully staffed due to factors like a lack of qualified individuals and difficult working conditions. "Nurses in California exposed to a nurse staffing mandate reported lower burnout, job dissatisfaction, and intent to leave compared to nurses in other states in this study." (Jane Muir et al.). California hospitals are a perfect example of companies implementing these changes and seeing positive results. "California nurses, on average, care for one fewer patient than non-California nurses explain about 50% of the California advantage for lower burnout, and a bit less for lower job dissatisfaction and intent to leave."(Jane Muir et al.) This study compares california who has adequately staffed hospitals, compared to other states. This further emphasises the outcomes that correct staffing has on the satisfaction of the employees.
Hospitals and healthcare facilities must implement mental health support into their benefits packages. Employees should be able to attend weekly therapy sessions at no cost to themselves. All healthcare workers should have an available mental health professional to be able to talk to at any point in their shift, and all conversations should be 100% confidencial, and the company should have absolutely no access to the information. Mental health support doesn't only include the tangible resources but also a safe and conducive work environment. Employees should feel heard and understood. If there is a problem that arises, the company/hospital should act to the best of their ability to resolve the issue. Healthcare leaders should recognize and appreciate laboratory professionals for the specific work that they do and their contributions to patient care. The more fundamentally supported the laboratory and healthcare workers are overall, the less likely they will become burnt out in their profession or at their specific place of work.
In conclusion, burnout in laboratory staff is a growing problem that affects both healthcare workers and patients. Everyone relies on the help of healthcare workers and laboratory staff for support during unexpected events. They are an industry we can't allow to continue down its current path of disempowerment and disenfranchisement that they are experiencing. Providing adequate resources for laboratory and hospital staff improves the quality of life for those employees and leads to an increase in productivity and quality of work. If healthcare organizations fail to address burnout, patient care and staff retention will continue to suffer. These outcomes benefit everyone. When our healthcare workers can fully provide the care we need, we all live healthier lives.
Works Cited
For the prompt, the research paper can be on any topic of our choosing - we've been working on honing in our topic for a few weeks now. The research paper must be a persuasive essay proposing a solution for our topic. MLA format
Silent Strain in the Laboratory
Every test result that doctors and patients depend on comes from the laboratory professionals who work long hours under intense pressure and little recognition. Medical laboratory professionals work behind the scenes performing critical tests that help physicians diagnose illnesses, monitor diseases, and determine treatments. Despite their importance, laboratory workers are often overlooked, understaffed, and overworked. Long hours, staff shortages, emotional strain, and increasing workloads contribute to burnout, which can negatively impact the employees and the hospitals/companies. Healthcare facilities and companies should be responsible for providing for the mental well-being of their lab staff. Laboratory staff burnout can be prevented by providing emotional support, promoting work-life balance, and reducing excessive workloads.
What is burnout? The term burnout was first coined in the 1970s by American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, who used it to describe the mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion caused by working in the healthcare industry or for caregivers (Schaufeli). The term has since been applied to many different careers and industries. Herbert Freudenberger and Gail North developed the twelve stages of burnout seen in career professionals. The burnout phases are as follows:
"1. Compulsion to prove oneself
2. Working harder
3. Neglecting own needs
4. Displacement of conflicts and needs
5. No longer any time for non-work-related needs
6. Increasing denial of the problem, decreasing flexibility of thought and behavior
7. Withdrawal, lack of direction, cynicism
8. Behavioral changes/psychological reactions
9. Depersonalization: loss of contact with self and own needs
10. Inner emptiness: anxiety, addictive behavior
11. Increasing feeling of meaninglessness and lack of interest
12. Physical exhaustion that can be life-threatening" (Kaschka et al.)
It is easy to assume that burnout is simply being exhausted by your job, but in reality, it goes much deeper than that. Burnout is not currently recognized as a medical condition or mental disorder, but it is a psychological and emotional response to unmanaged stress that can lead to anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. It is crucial to recognize the signs and symptoms of burnout and remedy them as soon as possible to prevent extreme physical exhaustion that can threaten one's life.
The COVID-19 pandemic was detrimental in many aspects, but especially in healthcare, leading to staffing shortages, supply distribution issues, a lack of resources, and an overflow of sick patients. When most think of healthcare, nurses, practitioners, specialists, and doctors come to mind, but rarely do we think of one of the backbones of the medical field: laboratory science. Since patients don't see the behind-the-scenes work of laboratory professionals, they often go unnoticed and unrecognized, but that doesn't mean that the field was unimpacted by the pandemic. When COVID-19 testing first became available, it was outsourced to laboratories, and demand grew exponentially. Luckily, at-home tests are available to the general public, but that doesn't erase the detrimental impacts the pandemic had on laboratories worldwide. COVID-19 led to extremely high rates of burnout in medical staff, and that includes laboratory science. Many people are aware of the mental strain on healthcare workers, but few recognize it extends to lab staff as well.
More and more workers within the healthcare and lab sciences are reporting symptoms of burnout since the pandemic. "In [a] 6-year survey study of VHA health care workers, burnout levels generally decreased following the pandemic but remain high compared with prepandemic levels (Mohr et al.). The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the problems and lack of support for healthcare workers and laboratory staff. In recent years, burnout among laboratory professionals has continued to rise due to increased workloads and ongoing staffing shortages. According to a survey published by the American Society of Clinical Pathology, over 85% of laboratory professionals experienced burnout at some point in their career, and nearly half said that they were currently dealing with burnout symptoms (Garcia et al.). Many workers have considered leaving their profession entirely due to high stress, long hours, odd shifts, and overall poor work-life balance.
It's estimated that 119 physicians commit suicide each year (Gold et al.), and although the rate has decreased since 1980, female health professionals are at a higher risk for suicide compared to the general population (Zimmermann et al). Addressing burnout in healthcare professionals as a whole is not only an industry issue but an individual issue as well. High rates of burnout lead to higher levels of staff turnover and lower quality of work, but also completely wipe out the individual as a whole. If the employee reaches the last stage of burnout, they have little to no interest in life at all and are at a point of exhaustion that it becomes a detriment to their health. "Exhaustion is linked with risk of suicidal ideation in employees not in health care service, regardless of depression status. Exhausted employees, particularly those having poor job resources, should be recognized as an at-risk group." (Dae Jong Oh et al.) If burnout is not addressed early on, it can develop into depression, disillusionment, and could catastrophically lead to suicide. It is an ethical dilemma as well due to there being accessible and viable solutions to prevent burnout as a whole.
Burnout among laboratory professionals greatly impacts hospitals, healthcare facilities, and companies. High rates of burnout lead to higher levels of staff turnover and lower quality of work. Low job satisfaction in healthcare means career changes, nursing shortages, and mass exoduses. The decreased number of staff leads to heavier workloads on existing staff, slower turnaround time for results, and thus lower quality of care. The staff that does remain at the hospital/facility become only more stressed and overworked. Critical and STAT testing may not be as efficient as they could be, which negatively impacts the physicians, nurses, and especially the patient. Hospitals and healthcare facilities claim "patient first" values; however, one of the best ways to ensure quality patient care is to invest in their employees. If an employee is completely burnt out, they have little to no interest in their own life and well-being, let alone a patient at their place of work.
Workers within the laboratory and healthcare industry are often cited as the most overworked profession. Decreasing the average daily workload is needed to decrease burnout in the short term. "Building on this result, we found a positive association between workload and exhaustion, and this relationship was strongest when job control was lower." (Portoghese et al.) When lab staff feel as though their work is out of their control and they are given unreasonable expectations, burnout sets in quickly. "In turn, improved working conditions are demonstrated by a low workload and exhaustion level, which can also be attributed to an increase in job control." (Portoghese et al.) This finding from the Journal of Safety and Health at Work illustrates that when staff feel supported, they have strong job satisfaction, and that gets reflected in their quality of work. "However, in instances where it is difficult to hire new employees due to economic and regulatory constraints, managers can provisionally reduce the workload by providing employees with a flexible schedule, such as a floating workforce (primarily applicable to nurses)." (Portoghese et al.). Employees need to feel in control of their job, and that includes managing their workload. If cases are equally distributed to workers and reasonable work expectations are set, the less likely it is that laboratory professionals are going to feel the effects of burnout.
The only true solutions to fixing the overworked healthcare and laboratory workforce are to increase the pool of labor and provide adequate mental health resources. Many hospitals and labs aren't fully staffed due to factors like a lack of qualified individuals and difficult working conditions. "Nurses in California exposed to a nurse staffing mandate reported lower burnout, job dissatisfaction, and intent to leave compared to nurses in other states in this study." (Jane Muir et al.). California hospitals are a perfect example of companies implementing these changes and seeing positive results. "California nurses, on average, care for one fewer patient than non-California nurses explain about 50% of the California advantage for lower burnout, and a bit less for lower job dissatisfaction and intent to leave."(Jane Muir et al.) This study compares california who has adequately staffed hospitals, compared to other states. This further emphasises the outcomes that correct staffing has on the satisfaction of the employees.
Hospitals and healthcare facilities must implement mental health support into their benefits packages. Employees should be able to attend weekly therapy sessions at no cost to themselves. All healthcare workers should have an available mental health professional to be able to talk to at any point in their shift, and all conversations should be 100% confidencial, and the company should have absolutely no access to the information. Mental health support doesn't only include the tangible resources but also a safe and conducive work environment. Employees should feel heard and understood. If there is a problem that arises, the company/hospital should act to the best of their ability to resolve the issue. Healthcare leaders should recognize and appreciate laboratory professionals for the specific work that they do and their contributions to patient care. The more fundamentally supported the laboratory and healthcare workers are overall, the less likely they will become burnt out in their profession or at their specific place of work.
In conclusion, burnout in laboratory staff is a growing problem that affects both healthcare workers and patients. Everyone relies on the help of healthcare workers and laboratory staff for support during unexpected events. They are an industry we can't allow to continue down its current path of disempowerment and disenfranchisement that they are experiencing. Providing adequate resources for laboratory and hospital staff improves the quality of life for those employees and leads to an increase in productivity and quality of work. If healthcare organizations fail to address burnout, patient care and staff retention will continue to suffer. These outcomes benefit everyone. When our healthcare workers can fully provide the care we need, we all live healthier lives.
Works Cited
