Medical professionals feel burnout, alone during coronavirus crisis

"The whole time I wanted to wake up and think this was a bad dream."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A nurse wipes away tears as she stands outside NYU Langone Medical Center on 1st Avenue in Manhattan, U.S. April 16, 2020. (photo credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)
A nurse wipes away tears as she stands outside NYU Langone Medical Center on 1st Avenue in Manhattan, U.S. April 16, 2020.
(photo credit: REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR)
Medical professionals in Israel are reporting burnout, anxiety and a feeling of loneliness and turmoil, as the coronavirus increases stress on the health system.
In a study conducted at the Barzilai Medical Center, medical teams expressed feelings of loneliness, fears of the unknown and continual burnout, according to KAN news. Staff members expressed concerns about their own health and the health of their families and patients.
Ten staff members at Barzilai were interviewed as part of the study by Dr. Karen Duplat and Dr. Osnat Bashkin from Ben-Gurion University and the Academic College in Ashkelon, and Dr. Noam Asna from Barzilai Medical Center.
"The [health] system wasn't ready – plain and simple. Every day a different directive was released. Complete chaos," said one staff member.
"I'm scared of a second wave and don't want it to come back," said another. "The whole time I wanted to wake up and think this was a bad dream."
In a survey conducted in March among 160 doctors from internal medicine departments, ICUs and urgent care in a number of Israeli hospitals, 30% of the respondents reported burnout, 18% felt anxious and 10% said they had symptoms of depression. Some 2.5% reported that they began using medicine for anxiety and depression.
Some 59% of the respondents stated that they didn't feel that they were protected well enough, according to DoctorsOnly.
The survey was conducted at the end of March by Dr. Odelia Elkana and Noam Shahar from the School of Behavioral Sciences at the Academic College of Tel Aviv, along with Prof. Jacob Ablin and Dr. Eden Shusterman from Sourasky Medical Center.
The survey found that doctors from internal medicine departments reported a rise in feelings of anxiety during the coronavirus crisis. Many expressed fears concerning treating intubated patients. Some 28% of respondents reported symptoms similar to the coronavirus that they suspected were caused by stress and overworking.
"Many experts and doctors are making media statements but there wasn't empirical research until now. Respondents included people on the front lines of dealing with the coronavirus outbreak and with its results, but their cry is not heard," Elkana told
Ynet.
Elkana stressed that the survey's findings on burnout are not something "situational" and were instead chronic. "Doctors have dragged around this burnout already a long time. It especially affects them during times of crisis like the present. The findings cannot be ignored. They mean that the State of Israel must take care of doctors in everything connected to this issue," she said.