Physician Coping Styles and Emotional Exhaustion

Wallace, Jean E.; Lemaire, Jane B

doi:10.7202/1016316ar

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(72 reference statements)

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“…Instead, physicians' strategies may be unhealthy and potentially harmful. [45] For example, keeping stress to oneself, concentrating on what to do next, and going on as if nothing happened are significantly related to emotional exhaustion in previous research.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

The look and feel of resilience: A qualitative study of physicians’ perspectives

Polachek

Wallace

Gautam

et al. 2016

JHA

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Some physicians can effectively cope and thrive in the face of potentially stressful job conditions, while others experience serious, negative consequences. This ability to be resilient may improve physician wellness and benefit health care organizations, yet little is known about what resilience means to physicians. This paper explores how physicians understand resilience both as they observe it in their colleagues and as they experience it themselves. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 physicians practicing in Alberta, Canada. Two questions explored physicians' experiences of resilience or non-resilience, while two other questions considered what they observed in physician colleagues. Interview transcripts were independently coded by two authors and discussed to ensure agreement on the key themes. There were several similarities in how physicians described resilience or non-resilience in themselves and their colleagues related to control, positivity or negativity, boundaries and balance, coping, and support. There were also important differences in how physicians described their own experiences and their observations of colleagues. Participants' portrayals of themselves suggested being immune to stress and responsible for their success or failure in being resilient. Their depictions of colleagues, however, focused on professionalism, work performance, commitment to values, and experience or wisdom. There appears to be a difference in how physicians understand resilience in themselves compared to what they observe in their colleagues. Specifically, physicians may hold unrealistic and unachievable expectations for their own resilience. Initiatives aimed at improving physician resilience and wellness may be best served by raising awareness about more realistic expectations and self-appraisals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 77%

The look and feel of resilience: A qualitative study of physicians’ perspectives

Polachek

Wallace

Gautam

et al. 2016

JHA

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“…Although perceptions of quality, efficiency and access cannot replace objective measures for accreditation purposes; they do signal the need to design initiatives to improve the working conditions and well-being of physicians. 18 Physicians and nurses recognize poor quality and inappropriate care prior to formal reporting processes. 3 Similarly, physicians often perceive regulatory restrictions in accessing services as reductions in efficiency and compromises to access, both important factors of quality.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 3 , 17 Physicians often underestimate the negative effects of chronic stress on their personal well-being and quality of care. 18 Professions such as medicine are intensely satisfying but often take a toll on personal life since patients require medical care around the clock; therefore, physicians schedule their work accordingly. 19 There needs to be separation of medical practice from personal life, and physicians in the United States have been shown to be at greater risk of burnout 20 than the general population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling factors explaining physicians’ satisfaction with competence

et al. 2015

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Objective:Attention to physician wellness has increased as medical practice gains in complexity. Physician satisfaction with practice is critical for quality of care and practice growth. The purpose of this study was to model physicians’ self-reported Satisfaction with Competence as a function of their perceptions of the Quality of Health Services, Distress, Coping, Practice Management, Personal Satisfaction and Professional Equity.Methods:Comprehensive questionnaires were sent to a stratified sample of 5300 physicians across Canada. This cross-sectional study focused on physicians who examined and treated individual patients for a final study population of 2639 physicians. Response bias was negligible. The questionnaires contained measures of Satisfaction with Competence, Quality of Health Services, Distress, Coping, Personal Satisfaction, Practice Management and Professional Equity. Exploring relationships was done using Pearson correlations and one-way analysis of variance. Modeling was by hierarchical regressions.Results:The measures were reliable: Satisfaction with Competence (α = .86), Quality (α = .86), Access (α = .82), Distress (α = .82), Coping (α = .76), Personal Satisfaction (α = .78), Practice Management (α = .89) and the dimensions of Professional Equity (Fulfillment, α = .81; Financial, α = .93; and Recognition, α = .75) with comparative validity. Satisfaction with Competence was positively correlated with Quality (r = .32), Efficiency (r = .37) and Access (r = .32); negatively correlated with Distress (r = −.54); and positively correlated with Coping strategies (r = .43), Personal Satisfaction (r = .57), Practice Management (r = .17), Fulfillment (r = .53), Financial (r = .36) and Recognition (r = .54). Physicians’ perceptions on Quality, Efficiency, Access, Distress, Coping, Personal Satisfaction, Practice Management, Fulfillment, Pay and Recognition explained 60.2% of the variation in Satisfaction with Competence, controlling for years in practice, self-reported health and duties of physicians.Conclusion:Satisfaction with Competence could be affected by excessive accumulation of duties, concerns about quality, efficiency, access, excessive distress, inadequate coping abilities, personal satisfaction with life as a physician, challenges in managing practices and persistent inequities among physicians.

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“…5 In striving to meet the demands of practice, however, physicians also experience considerable stress. 3,4 Physicians have used many ways to cope with the pressures of practicing medicine, most prominently collegial support; 6 however, there is little evidence on whether Coping methods alleviate Distress or positively influence SwC. The purposes of this study were to (1) articulate the dimensions of Coping strategies used by physicians, and (2) determine whether Coping strategies alleviated Distress and enhanced SwC.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of distress and the dimensions of coping strategies on physicians’ satisfaction with competence

et al. 2016

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Objectives:The purposes of this study were to (1) articulate the dimensions of Coping strategies used by physicians, and (2) determine whether Coping strategies alleviated Distress and enhanced Satisfaction with Competence.Methods:Comprehensive questionnaires on factors associated with Satisfaction with Competence were sent to a stratified sample of 5300 physicians across Canada. The response rate was 57% with negligible bias. Factor analysis was used to articulate the dimensions of Coping strategies. The classic Baron and Kenny regression series was used to establish whether Coping mediates the effects of Distress on Satisfaction with Competence. Years in Practice, Self-Reported Health, and Duties of Physicians were control factors.Results:A reliable 15-item measure of Coping was confirmed (α = .76) with four reasonably reliable dimensions: Collegiality (α = .80), Attitude (α = .63), Managing Work (α = .60), and Self-Care (α = .62). Physicians reported a mean Satisfaction with Competence of (M = 4.26 out of 6.0, standard deviation (SD) = 0.64) with General practitioners reporting slightly lower levels of Satisfaction with Competence than average. Conversely, chronic disease, clinical, and procedural specialists reported higher levels of Satisfaction with Competence. The mean Distress level for all physicians was (M = 3.66 out of 7.0, SD = 0.93). The highest levels of distress were reported by emergency physicians, general practitioners, and surgeons. Clinical specialists, anesthesiologists, and psychiatrists reported the lowest levels of distress. Physicians reported (M = 4.48 out of 7.0, SD = 0.78) as the mean level of Coping ability with clinical specialists and general practitioners reporting lower than average abilities to cope. Laboratory and chronic care specialists reported greater than average coping abilities. Regression analyses established Coping as a mediator of Distress which predicted physicians’ Satisfaction with Competence.Conclusion:Four groups of coping strategies were significant in relieving the pressures of work: (1) Collegiality, (2) Self-Care, (3) Managing Work, and (4) Positive Attitude.

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Physician Coping Styles and Emotional Exhaustion

Cited by 13 publications

References 48 publications

The look and feel of resilience: A qualitative study of physicians’ perspectives

The look and feel of resilience: A qualitative study of physicians’ perspectives

Modeling factors explaining physicians’ satisfaction with competence

The effects of distress and the dimensions of coping strategies on physicians’ satisfaction with competence

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