Nearly half of healthcare workers ‘at their breaking point,’ survey finds

By Hayley DeSilva for Becker’s Hospital Review

Forty-nine percent of  U.S. healthcare workers in a recent survey said they are either at their breaking point or looking for new work due to the stress and trauma they endure on the job, a Colorado addiction treatment center reported Aug. 18.

All Points North’s “State of Mental Health: American Healthcare Workers Report” is based on the Edwards, Colo., treatment center’s online survey of 1,000 U.S. healthcare workers over 22 years of age taken July 19-25. Third-party research firm Censuswide assisted in the study.

The study revealed that 40 percent of respondents felt “anxiety or dread about going into work.” Nearly half of them said they are seeking new jobs due to stress and trauma.

“These staggering stats suggest the quality of patient care is suffering substantially as a direct result of the overall health of physicians,” according to the report.

Twenty-three percent of respondents said they are afraid of losing their license; 32 percent said they are overworked and lacking time to care for their mental health; and 23 percent said they fear judgment from colleagues and family.

“The well-being and mental health of healthcare workers has been dramatically impacted by the pandemic, with many of them seeing more pain and death than ever before,” Noah Nordheimer, CEO and founder of All Points North, said in the report. “This frequency and intensity of exposure is causing an unprecedented amount of trauma and stress, leading to high levels of burnout. We must put mental health on par with physical health and make it a basic human right.”