According to researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health workers across the country are facing a mental health crisis.
Health Worker Mental Health Crisis
A new CDC report, covering nationwide survey data from 2018 to 2022, discovered almost half of health workers had reported burnout feelings in 2022. This is a significant rise from below a third just four years before.
Aside from this, reports of work harassment also doubled.
The report also reveals that health workers are experiencing worse mental health outcomes compared to employees from other industries.
The findings come on the tip of the largest strike of health workers that the US has ever seen. In this strike, 75,000 Kaiser Permanente unionized employees expressed chronic staffing shortages and burnout feelings during a five-state and Columbia District walkout.
Dr. Debra Houry, the chief medical officer of the CDC, explains that while health workers diligently care for others in need, it is now the health workers of the nation that are going through suffering. She further urges the necessity to act.
Dr. Houry adds that prior to the pandemic, the jobs of these health workers were already demanding. They had to face unpredictable schedules and long hours, infectious disease risk exposure, and challenging interactions with patients and families.
An earlier study has also discovered that health workers have an increased risk of suicide compared to those who are not medical practitioners.
According to Dr. Houry, the pandemic made the challenges in the workplace even worse, as health workers had to cater to surging waves or patients, work long hours, and help with staff shortages. These intense stressors pushed mental health issues to surge. These also led to suicidal ideation and challenges with substance abuse.
The report also found that health care workers had more days with poor mental health from 2018 to 2022. As part of the survey, 44% reported the desire to find a new job. This is higher compared to the rate of 33% in 2018.
A Call To Take Care of Health Worker Mental Health
Casey Chosewood, who serves as the director at the Office for Total Worker Health at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, explains that they are calling employers to consider this information and exert preventive efforts, further noting that a supportive work environment leads to positive mental health impacts.
The CDC report also recommends the encouragement of cross-level employee participation when it comes to decision-making. This means that health workers that participated in the decision-making process had a roughly 50% lesser likelihood of reportedly having symptoms of depression.
Chosewood recommends that supervisors should support employees by monitoring needs in staffing and addressing harassment reports seriously.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the CDC also plans to implement a national campaign to aid hospital leaders with issues pertaining to the well-being of health workers. Chosewood notes that the bottom line is to take things to heart and to move into action.
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