Healthcare workers have faced supply shortages, understaffing, scarcity of resources, and risk of illness during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to these numerous challenges, healthcare workers are dealing with burnout symptoms and moral distress. This burnout not only leads to anxiety and depression in healthcare workers but has an adverse effect on quality of care and patients. As workers leave their roles as a result of burnout, healthcare organizations are met with a heavy cost.  The advisory demands that the U.S. address this burnout crisis systematically and prioritize healthcare workers on the front lines.  

“As we transition towards recovery, we have a moral obligation to address the long-standing crisis of burnout, exhaustion, and moral distress across the health community,” wrote the surgeon general, Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA. “We owe health workers far more than our gratitude. We owe them an urgent debt of action.” 

The advisory provides a list of recommendations for health systems to address the burnout issue.