\n<\/p>\n
Stressed tired healthcare worker sitting on floor<\/span><\/p>\n getty<\/small><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n Once again, \u201cThe Pitt\u201d has captured something real, pinpointing the chronic problem of stress and burnout in our health system. Toward the end of Season 2, Episode 12, third-year medical student Joy Kwon leaves when her shift is over, even though the ER is busier than usual. Dr. Langdon, a resident who has been battling addiction throughout this season, tells her most people stay when things are in \u201cdisaster mode.\u201d<\/p>\n Joy: \u201cYou know 62% of ED docs report suffering from burnout?\u201d<\/p>\n Langdon: \u201cPainfully aware.\u201d<\/p>\n Joy: \u201cSo maybe all you lunatics need to learn to set some boundaries, like me. See you tomorrow, doc.\u201d<\/p>\n Joy leaves not because she\u2019s burned out, but because she doesn\u2019t want to become like the doctors and nurses she works with. The scene sparked a debate among viewers: Is Joy a boundary-setting hero or a selfish quitter?<\/p>\n It\u2019s telling that so many people were stunned to see a medical professional leave at the end of her shift. Burnout is so commonplace in health that it seems normal.<\/p>\n That expectation \u2014 to give more than is sustainable \u2014 is not unique to the ER. In my 10 years of practice in state and local health departments, it was an all too familiar feeling. Racing to meet a midnight grant deadline, stepping out of a funeral to answer \u201curgent\u201d questions about a lead report I wrote (yes, that happened) or grinding through a daily barrage of emails to keep colleagues and community partners aligned.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve missed my fair share of family obligations and personal milestones because duty to the public always came first. In public health and medicine, these aren\u2019t exceptions \u2014 they\u2019re part of the culture.<\/p>\n As Joy noted, about 60% of emergency room physicians<\/u><\/a> report symptoms of burnout, due to factors<\/u><\/a> like staffing shortages, long and irregular shifts and exposure to critically ill, dying and traumatized patients and families. ER nurses<\/u><\/a> are in the same boat. And the problem doesn\u2019t stop at the hospital doors.<\/p>\n Less visible than emergency room workers, 71% of another critical group \u2014 government public health workers<\/u><\/a> \u2014 report at least one burnout symptom, with one in five reporting near-constant symptoms. More than 40% have student loan debt<\/u><\/a>, with an average balance near $50,000. (That\u2019s double the percentage of all U.S. adults who have student loan balances.)<\/p>\n These pressures are well understood, but the flawed design of the system is rarely addressed.<\/p>\n We understand this in other sectors where failure has clear consequences.<\/p>\n For flight attendants and pilots, we mandate rest \u2014 with minimum hours between shifts, strict limits on duty time and formal fatigue risk management systems that allow workers to report exhaustion without fear of punishment.<\/p>\n Why? Because when they make a mistake, people die. But in healthcare and public health, fatigue is often treated as dedication. And then we act surprised when the system breaks.<\/p>\n