Healthcare provider burn-out: A war with uncertainty

Referring to provider burn-out as a foe to be conquered is a palatable representation that fits within a familiar medical narrative-combating disease, fighting illness, curing and vanquishing the cancer. Even the words we use to describe our daily work-"on the front lines" or "in the trenches" or "fighting the good fight"-places us on a metaphorical battlefield. Is provider burn-out inflicted by another entity, and if so by whom or by what? Is it, by contrast, a disease or a condition? Is burn-out something that just happens or is it created? The World Health Organization International Classification of Disease (World Health Organization, 2019) added burn-out in 2019, but also made a clear statement that this is an occupational phenomenon and not a medical condition. It defines burn-out as "a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions: feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one's job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and reduced professional efficacy. Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life" (WHO, 2019). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).