Top 9 Ways for You and Your Staff to Avoid Burnout
More than ever before, we’re hearing from dentistry professionals these words: I’m burned out.
Taking care of patients and managing personal time while maintaining a practice—with all the inefficient, manual administrative tasks and time-consuming behind-the-scenes work that is required to keep the office running smoothly—can take a toll. Dental professionals often find themselves stuck at the office, buried under paperwork and reports, or spinning their wheels trying to grow the business and sacrificing personal time with family and friends. The ADA’s 2021 Dentist Health and Well-Being Survey of 20,000 dentists found 16% had experienced anxiety—more than triple the levels reported in 2003—and 13% had experienced depression.
Practice owners need to ask themselves: “Do I have enough time for self-care? Am I able to spend time with family and friends? Do I have the time and energy to exercise, participate in my interests, hobbies, and all the other activities that keep me healthy in body and mind?” Many will undoubtedly say no.
However, self-care and a healthy work/life balance are vital for a practitioner’s mental health, their team’s well being and the ability to deliver optimal care to patients. Fostering mental resilience and a positive culture are critical components of any operation; without the systems in place to support communication, reduce friction, and simplify tasks and processes, practice owners risk compromising their staff’s work/life balance and job satisfaction, and end up creating an environment that leads to burnout—for both themselves and their staff.
Burnout has been described as “a state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment,” leaving individuals unable to function effectively on a personal or professional level. With the sheer volume of administrative and non-clinical support work—coupled with financial strains, operational challenges, and pandemic-related impacts—burnout among dental professionals is on the rise.
A 2021 study examining burnout and work engagement among US dentists reported a 13.2% prevalence of burnout. Not surprisingly, the pandemic exacerbated mental health challenges: nearly three-quarters (71%) of US oral health providers said their feelings of burnout had increased since the start of the COVID-19, with 58% experiencing feelings of burnout due to work a few times per week or more.
In addition, when it comes to healthcare personnel working in the practice, they are equally affected. A 2022 study of dental hygienists in Nova Scotia, Canada returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic following a furlough found that approximately one-third (36.2%) experienced burnout.
The Signs of Burnout
What are the warning signs that you or your staff are burning out? Here are a few possibilities:
- Lack of regular meals or interruption in eating patterns
- Working late or through lunchtimes
- Running late due to lack of concentration
- Lack of social life or fulfilling hobbies
- Chronic tiredness or difficulty getting out of bed in the morning
- No longer enjoying work like you used to
1. Exercise Regularly
Exercise generally offers a wealth of incredibly positive results. It’s been to potentially reduce stress, improve memory, and even operate as antidepressants by boosting your feel good endorphins. Exercise releases endorphins that help balance mood and foster a sense of well- being, among other positive results. It also improves your physical health and well being from improved cardiovascular function right through to establishing good sleep habits. As a result, exercise can also help improve morale and boost self confidence, which is a helpful cure to the cynicism and negativity that burnout can create.
2. Get Enough Sleep
Getting a good night's sleep can play a crucial role in anyone’s mood and health, which can effectively support you when dealing with stress. Exercise as mentioned above can be one way to help yourself get enough sleep. You can also practice “sleep hygiene,” which includes a list of different ideas you can use to help yourself get more restful sleep, such as darkening your bedroom, avoiding screens two hours before going to bed, avoiding caffeinated beverages after noon, and avoiding eating up to three hours before bed. You can also use a meditation app, like Calm or Headspace, or do breathing exercises at bedtime to help create a sense of calm and relaxation before bed. Lastly, but most importantly, aim to get a good 8 hours of sleep every night and go to bed and rise at the same time each day.
3. Establish a Daily Routine
Just like you should develop a nighttime routine, you can try to avoid burnout by establishing a daily routine as well. Whether your routine is going to the gym before work or enjoying a family breakfast every morning, routine is good for keeping stress at bay. And the reason is simple. The human brain needs to work harder to adapt to changing circumstances. Routine helps avoid that unnecessary extra strain.
4. Pencil Downtime Into Your Day
Aim to have at least one evening a week to stop thinking about dentistry and do something else. This could be relaxing in front of the TV, reading a good book or going to the gym. Make sure you also get a break in the middle of the day to "switch off" and have a dedicated lunch break. You can even go for a short walk or meditate in a break room for a few minutes. We also recommend scheduling longer breaks or holidays in advance every few months. A Finnish study published by the Journal of Happiness Studies calculates that study participants' health and well-being ratings peaked at eight days compared to longer vacations. Even if you simply spend a few days off work at home, this time is invaluable to help you recharge. The quality of your days off may be more important than the quantity of the days you take off. You should also make time to spend with your family and non-dental friends, especially if you find yourself socializing with a lot of other dentists or colleagues, which leads us to number 5...
5. Connect With Colleagues
Dentistry can be a lonely profession. It can't be emphasized enough that you should build your professional network not only for clinical support, but also for personal support. Find a mentor or schedule regular one-to-one talks with others to discuss your practice. Just talking to someone can help you realize solutions that are right in front of your nose! There are many online communities and professional organizations you can also be part of or even local dental professional groups on social media.
6. Recognize Where You and Your Team Excel
It’s always important to recognize where you and your team excel so you can celebrate your strengths and improve in areas of opportunity. Praise your staff individually for jobs well done, even if they’re routine procedures. Employees tend to perform better when they receive praise, even when their initial performance had been lackluster. Excessive criticism, on the other hand, may impede work performance and accelerate burnout. While feedback is valuable in the workplace, making someone feel overwhelmed or overloaded with consistent negative feedback without instances of positive reinforcement may prevent them from improving and may even lead to burnout.
7. Learn to Separate Your Work and Personal Life
When you're the boss, it's hard to step away from the office. Your work is always on your mind. But people who have a hard time setting boundaries between work and their personal life place themselves at an increased risk of burnout. Work-life balance—establishing boundaries between your professional and personal lives—may reduce stress. Don’t get us wrong, we aren't saying you shouldn’t work hard. However, it opens up possibilities for you to spend more time with family, friends, and hobbies you enjoy instead of focusing on work at all times. In addition, making time for rest and relaxation may help you to concentrate while you're at work, and being more active socially may help you live a longer and healthier life.
8. Prioritize Your Health
You've probably heard the phrase "self care" almost as much as you've heard the term burnout. That’s because self care has become more important as business owners and employees risk burnout. In addition to getting enough sleep and exercise, you can also eat healthy meals, step outside throughout the day, and keep up with appropriate health screenings. As a dentistry professional, your ability to continue to work may be necessary to pursue your future goals. As a result, looking after yourself is the most important thing you can do to have a fulfilling career, in addition to enjoying your personal life and avoiding burnout.
9. Practice Smarter
Adopt and implement an integrated healthcare management solution to help you connect, collaborate and thrive by simplifying everyday tasks of your dentistry practice. By automatically integrating a full range of healthcare management workflows—staff management, payroll, patient scheduling, practice management, ordering, inventory management, patient communication—through an all-in-one platform, you can empower your team, seamlessly communicate with your healthcare community, and simplify your day-to-day operations to optimize patient care and grow your practice. Automated workflows create ease, balance, and harmony—delivering benefits beyond the business operations of the practice. By helping you save time, reduce costs, and minimize friction and frustration, a holistic, integrated healthcare business management platform enables you to focus on what matters most: patient care, practice growth, and personal wellbeing for both you and your staff.
Manage Your Team to Avoid Burnout
Burnout prevention is important because it can affect both work and life. The key to preventing burnout is to develop good habits that keep you physically, mentally and emotionally strong. Plus, preventing burnout is one of many ways you can effectively manage and retain a dental practice and team.
For more tips on managing your practice effectively, download our Ultimate Guide to Creating Order from Chaos in Your Dental Practice.
