Keeping the Faith: A Healthcare Worker’s Story of Burnout

Defining burnout

Burnout can be defined as the “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation, usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.” According to the Department of Health and Human Services, some of the causes of burnout in healthcare workers are excessive workloads, administrative burdens, limited say in scheduling, and lack of organizational support. For a healthcare worker, this may feel like being expected to be in more than one place at once, or look like not sitting down or eating a meal for 10+ hours during a shift. It may manifest itself as feelings of defeat, anxiety or dread when approaching or thinking about work.

It not only negatively impacts a healthcare worker’s wellbeing, but their patients may suffer as well, by not receiving the quality of care they need. If left untreated or unaddressed, burnout can lead to depression, exhaustion unrelieved by rest, broken relationships (personal and professional) or in severe cases even suicide in healthcare workers.

[burnout] not only negatively impacts a healthcare worker’s wellbeing, but their patients may suffer as well, by not receiving the quality of care they need.

On a typical day, I begin my shift with nervous anticipation, as I do not know what the day will hold. I may have up to four patients that I care for at a given time. It is not uncommon for at least two of my patients to be critically unstable and in need of several interventions, which requires extensive documentation that would call for me to be in their room the majority of my shift. 

Overcoming burnout

You really have to find a way to cope when dealing with any hardship in life, including burnout, or it will get the best of you. God is the source of comfort for me whenever I experience burnout. When I am at the end of myself, I find him. I do not have to look far because he is already there, all around, waiting for me to ask for help.

I try to begin every prayer with praise and thanks regardless of what I am going through because I know that God is still good. Honestly, this is not always easy. I’ve realized though that I do not have to wait until I am in a good place to come to God. I can come to Him with my pain, my wondering, my frustrations, even if some of it is directed at him. God can handle my biggest emotions, and he honors the fact that I made the choice to trust in Him despite what I am feeling. Choice is so important. So I praise, I thank, and then I tell God all that is not right in my world. Of course, he is already aware of all of it, but it gives Him permission to go to work in my life.

…for me the atmosphere at church created by praise and worship is unlike any other…When I praise God, I feel like his presence is magnified in my life. He becomes larger than my circumstances, larger than my problems, larger than myself.

Sometimes I cannot even muster the energy to pray, and so I just trust God to hear my heart. A patient once told me to look around me, externally, for God’s answer after I pray because he is always speaking and will provide. And he does, as he did through that patient.

Having a church community has been beneficial to me as well. The church provides me with an opportunity to connect with like minded believers. I might not always have time to hang out at a church barbecue or meet up for coffee, but I can count on my church praying for me, and this means everything to me. Also, for me the atmosphere at church created by praise and worship is unlike any other; there is no place I’d rather be. When I praise God, I feel like his presence is magnified in my life. He becomes larger than my circumstances, larger than my problems, larger than myself.