By Johnathon Ross, M.D., M.P.H.
The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade, January 17, 2022
We keep seeing and hearing the term “caregiver burnout” used in the news. The term burnout implies a lack of resilience that puts the blame on the victim of the stress that they are undergoing. So much of the stress we face these days is aggravated by our broken sickness care nonsystem on top of the coronavirus pandemic. Our inability to give the care to all who need it because of the financing complexity, narrow networks, drug formularies, and underinsurance is at odds with our moral duty as doctors and nurses to care for everyone the best we can.
Some are starting to realize that burnout is Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome of sorts and realizing “caregiver burnout” is a moral injury, and that caregivers are suffering substantially related to the immorality of our health-care system.
For me, the cure for caregiver moral injury has been advocating for system change to allow caregivers to treat all patients equitably without being controlled or second-guessed by those who profit from our broken system (commercial insurers, PHARMA, for-profit hospitals, for-profit dialysis, long-term care facilities, and the corporate profiteers who are buying physician practices).
The best hope for caregivers and patients is reform based on an improved, expanded Medicare for all. It would do more to improve caregiver morale than counseling and Prozac. Improved, expanded Medicare for all would save money, save lives, and is the moral thing to do. Nothing will change unless caregivers and patients demand it. We will all be patients some day.
Dr. Johnathon Ross is past president of Physicians for a National Health Program.