The chaotic physician work world

Physicians are immersed in a work environment where daily challenges seem to represent a condition or place of increasing disorder and confusion. The degree of "entropy" in the physician workplace is increasing exponentially. Healthcare systems are in a state of chaos and are dynamic--meaning the behavior at one time influences its behavior in the future. The initial changes have future exponential fluctuations that have created a state of healthcare crisis. These systems are nonlinear; the metaphor to describe the unruly nature of the physician work world is that in which the flap of a butterfly wing in Brazil can set off a tornado in Texas. The tornado affecting physician work life must be understood to be rectified. Physicians must slow down and pay attention.