Physician Burnout: Exhausted or Depressed Physicians More Likely to Commit Errors

Surgeons who are burned out or depressed are more likely to say they had recently committed a major error on the job, according to the largest study to date on physician burnout, which was recently published in the Annals of Surgery.

The new findings suggest that the mental well-being of the surgeon is associated with a higher rate of self-reported medical errors, something that may undermine patient safety more than the fatigue that is often blamed for many of the medical mistakes.

Although surgeons do not appear more likely to make mistakes than physicians in other disciplines, surgical errors may have more severe consequences for patients due to the interventional nature of the work.

Fatigue and long working hours are generally attributed to physician and surgeon fatigue, although burnout and depression should be more carefully considered.

Read the full article at the Annals of Surgery or click here:

http://journals.lww.com/annalsofsurgery/Abstract/publishahead/Burnout_and_Medical_Errors_Among_American_Surgeons.99663.aspx