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Combating Military and Veteran Mental Health Provider Burnout and Enhancing Resiliency

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Veteran and Military Mental Health

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Abstract

Burnout is marked by the triad of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a low sense of personal accomplishment from work. Over the past several years, burnout was noted as a growing national public health concern due to its impact on patient safety, quality of care, and retention of health care employees. The drivers for this growing public health problem are numerous and health care provider burnout is a complex problem; however, the general themes being investigated are the influences of workload demand, administrative tasks and responsibilities, the impacts of technology, effects of health care policies, decisions, and external factors on front line health care delivery. These issues are at a crisis level because they influence two key aspects of health care, both the retention/continuation of personnel within the practice of medicine, and also on the quality and safety of care that is delivered. Military and veteran mental health providers face some additional challenges in addition to the current burnout crisis including the military’s employment of deployed mental health professionals involves placing them in close proximity to front lines and increasing their personal risk of trauma exposure, as well as exposing them to high volumes of patients with recent traumatic experiences. Furthermore, many military and veteran mental health professionals have seen the increased workload, impacts of trauma, and readiness supporting requirements at their facilities which support both service members and family members. This chapter seeks to provide a specific guidance and understanding for clinicians who are caring for military and veteran medical and mental health professionals, while also providing a roadmap for organizational leaders on how to prevent burnout.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Rachel M. Sullivan, Christopher H. Warner & Elspeth Cameron Ritchie

  2. Department of Behavioral Health, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Rachel M. Sullivan

  3. Med-Star Washington Hospital Center, Georgetown University School of Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, USA

    Elspeth Cameron Ritchie

  4. Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Matthew S. Heller

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Clin. Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Uniformed Services University of the Hea, Bethseda, MD, USA

    Christopher H. Warner

  2. Professor of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Carl A. Castro

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Sullivan, R.M., Warner, C.H., Heller, M.S., Ritchie, E.C. (2023). Combating Military and Veteran Mental Health Provider Burnout and Enhancing Resiliency. In: Warner, C.H., Castro, C.A. (eds) Veteran and Military Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18009-5_21

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