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Burnout in health professionals

Burnout in health professionals

Burnout in health professionals is a hugely important issue, affecting both personal wellbeing and patient care. Long hours, high demands, inadequate support and working under increasingly difficult conditions within an NHS system that is under significant strain can leave many clinicians feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

Burnout is associated with many negative outcomes, including (BMJ 2022;378:e070442, BMJ 2022;378:o2157):

• Poorer patient care, more clinical errors and lower patient satisfaction.
• Reduced professional engagement, loss of commitment and high staff turnover.
• Increased absenteeism.
• Worsening mental and physical health.

So, it's vital that we take this problem seriously. This article explores what burnout is, how to recognise it in ourselves and our colleagues, and some organisational and personal strategies that can help prevent and treat it.

You may also wish to see our related articles: Roadmap to wellbeing: microskills for positive change, Building resilience and Communicating our needs and setting boundaries.

This article was updated in September 2025.

Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It is categorised as a syndrome caused by chronic, unmanaged workplace stress, rather than as a medical condition (ICD-11 - World Health Organisation, 2022). However, individuals who are burned out are also at greater risk of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety and suicidality (Front Public Health 2023; 11:1133484).

There are 3 main features of burnout (World Psychiatry 2016; 15:103):

• Exhaustion and fatigue: we feel overextended and drained of physical and emotional energy.
• Reduced sense of accomplishment and professional efficacy: we begin to doubt our skills, feel ineffective and unmotivated, and worry that our work performance is suffering. If burnout isn’t recognised and treated, these feelings can become reality.
• Depersonalisation: we may feel increasingly detached or negative towards patients, colleagues or our work. This can lead to irritability, reduced empathy and a more mechanical approach to patient care, all of which contribute to decreased professional fulfilment.

The impact of burnout in health settings may be underestimated 

The impact of burnout in health professionals may be underestimated because clinicians typically strive to complete essential clinical tasks even when exhausted. Those experiencing burnout often adopt ‘performance protection’ strategies that maintain high-priority clinical tasks, while neglecting lower-priority tasks, including interpersonal skills such as reassuring patients (Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:818393). 

Compassion fatigue

Compassion fatigue can be an early warning sign of burnout. It can show up as a growing sense of emotional disconnection from patients or colleagues. This response typically develops after prolonged exposure to other people’s pain – whether through witnessing trauma or supporting multiple patients with complex emotional needs. 

As a coping mechanism, the mind may begin to create emotional distance. This disengagement can lead to a loss of empathy or a sense of indifference. While this reaction may feel protective at first, it is also distressing because it separates us from others and doesn’t align with our values or how we want to be at work. It also makes it harder to provide compassionate care and function well in our roles (Healthcare 2024; 12:171, Burnout free working 2025; JKP).

The 2024 NHS staff survey highlights burnout as a significant concern:

• 30% of staff reported that they felt burnt out because of their work.
• 34% said that work is emotionally exhausting.
• 42% felt worn out at the end of their working day or shift.
• 29% said that they do not have enough time for family and friends during leisure time. 

Here are some more statistics showing how burnout affects different groups of health professionals:

One model of burnout views it as a sequential process that develops in stages across a clinician’s career. Most clinicians start out with enthusiasm and a desire to help others. However, heavy workloads, endless paperwork and overwhelming responsibility – often with little autonomy or control over our working lives – can cause work-related stress. While short-term stress is a natural response that can boost our energy and focus to help meet challenges, chronic and unmanaged stress can take a heavy toll on our wellbeing and may eventually lead to burnout (Society of Occupational Medicine, 2023; Burnout in Healthcare):

Multiple factors are associated with the development of burnout

Rather than a linear pathway, burnout may be better understood as a complex interplay of factors, including workplace conditions, personal resilience and coping strategies (Society of Occupational Medicine, 2023):

Factors that can make clinician burnout more likely

When we look at the factors above in the context of clinician burnout, we can see how personality traits and behavioural patterns can also increase the risk of burnout in this group:

Specific causes of burnout in dentists

In dentists, increased rates of stress and burnout are associated with (Healthcare 2024; 12:2366df, GDC, 2021):

• Being less experienced.
• Working as a general practice dentist.
• High levels of NHS work (rather than private practice).
• Long working hours or working on weekends/overnight.
• Low job satisfaction.
• Having a high number of patients or working under constant time pressure.
• Isolated working patterns and lack of support from colleagues.

Burnout has serious consequences for both clinicians and patients. 

A BMJ systematic review found that physicians across multiple specialities who experience burnout show changes that affect many aspects of professional practice (BMJ 2022;378:e070442):

• Patient safety: burnout was linked to more safety incidents, including medication errors and diagnostic delays, with emotional exhaustion being a major contributing factor.
• Professional behaviour: burnout was associated with low professionalism, including suboptimal patient care, failure to follow clinical guidelines and poorer communication. In particular, depersonalisation undermined professional behaviour and patient experience.
• Patient satisfaction: burnout was associated with lower patient satisfaction, reflecting the combined effects of safety incidents and reduced professionalism.
• Career impact: clinicians with burnout were more likely to feel dissatisfied with their jobs, regret their career choice, consider leaving medicine and report lower productivity or lack of career development.

A similar negative pattern has been shown in dentists. A systematic review of dental professionals found that burnout was associated with (Healthcare 2024;12:2366):

• Lower quality of care, including increased patient safety risks from errors of judgement, misdiagnoses and technical mistakes.
• Poor sleep, fatigue, anxiety, stress and increased alcohol consumption.
• Higher risk of job dissatisfaction, workplace change or leaving the profession.
• Greatest vulnerability among younger dentists and those in high-intensity surgical specialties. 

Burnout often develops gradually, and can present differently in each person, making it easy to miss – especially in teams that are busy and under pressure. Colleagues are often good at spotting these early signs so it’s important to stay attuned, offer support and raise concerns when needed. Remote staff and new team members may need extra connection and check-ins because signs can be harder to spot. We discuss some skills for starting a conversation about wellbeing with a colleague in our article, Starting mental health conversations.

Common signs of burnout include (Society of Occupational Medicine, 2023):

Stages of burnout

In his book, Burnout-free working (JKP, 2025), Richard Duggins outlines three stages of burnout:

The plateau: coping on empty

This stage can last months or even years. People keep functioning under pressure, appearing competent while feeling increasingly drained. They begin to let go of restorative activities – such as seeing friends, exercising or resting – and focus all their energy on meeting demands at work and home. Isolation grows, but shame and fear of judgment often prevent them from asking for help. Thinking narrows into self-critical beliefs: I have to keep going, I can’t let anyone down or If I stop, I’ll be seen as weak. Despite emotional numbness, irritability and poor sleep, we keep pushing on, coping on empty and edging closer to burnout.

The burnout cliff: sudden collapse

The burnout cliff often comes as a shock – to the person themselves and those around them. Many say they didn’t see it coming because they had been ‘coping’ by cutting out anything non-essential and ignoring their own warning signs. Then, a seemingly minor demand tips everything over the edge. Suddenly, they’re no longer able to function at work. Their mood crashes, physical symptoms emerge and urgent time off or a major reduction in responsibilities becomes unavoidable.

What makes this moment so distressing is not just the collapse, but the loss of a role that has become central to their identity. Feelings of shame, fear and failure are common, alongside self-critical thoughts such as I should have tried harder or I’ve let everyone down. But this isn’t a sudden event – it’s the final stage of a long, hidden decline, driven by a culture that equates strength with silence and prioritises productivity over wellbeing.

Recovery: rebalancing and renewal

Recovery begins by making space to rest and reflect. It often brings the realisation of just how long someone has been running on empty and what they’ve sacrificed to keep going.

Small, restorative steps – such as reconnecting with others, spending time outside or simply pausing – help rebuild energy. As these become more regular, unhelpful beliefs about productivity and self-worth can start to shift.

Recovery isn’t about going back to how things were. It’s about finding a more sustainable way forward, with clearer boundaries, greater self-awareness and a kinder inner dialogue: I coped the only way I could. Now I’m choosing differently.

Burnout has multiple complex causes so there is no single solution. Addressing it requires more than simply promoting ‘resilience’ in individual clinicians; it also requires systemic change and improved working conditions that enable staff to thrive. The most effective approach is likely to combine strategies at multiple levels, tailored to the needs of individuals and organisations. These include:

• Primary interventions: changes to the workplace that can help prevent burnout. This is essential because once clinicians have reached the exhaustion phase, it can take a significant time to recover.
• Secondary interventions: supportive strategies that help individuals and teams cope better with work-related stress and reduce the risk of burnout.
• Tertiary interventions: clinical treatment and workplace adaptations for individuals already experiencing burnout, with a focus on recovery, rehabilitation and a sustainable return to work.

In the next part of the article, we look at each of these in more detail.

Preventing burnout is essential – not only for individual wellbeing, but for the long-term sustainability of the healthcare workforce. In high-pressure environments such as primary care and dentistry, the steady accumulation of relentless demand, emotional strain and moral distress may go unnoticed until it begins to cause real harm. 

Primary prevention involves taking proactive steps to create healthier working environments that support psychological safety, reduce systemic pressures and promote everyday wellbeing. The goal is to make burnout less likely in the first place by embedding support into the way teams and systems operate. This includes:

This is an important reminder that burnout prevention isn’t about urging individuals to be tougher, push through or simply cope better. It’s about creating the conditions where people are able to do their jobs effectively and sustain their wellbeing. Real prevention focuses on the system around the work – not just the resilience of the people doing it.

Secondary prevention focuses on recognising and responding to early signs of burnout before they escalate into more serious or lasting difficulties. While primary prevention aims to reduce systemic pressures and minimise risk, secondary prevention involves taking timely action when stress begins to take a visible toll. This means noticing subtle changes in behaviour, mood or performance, and offering support early. 

Acknowledging these early warning signs creates a valuable opportunity to reverse the trajectory and prevent burnout from becoming entrenched. This involves practical strategies to identify and address early signs in ways that support wellbeing and maintain functioning – both for individuals and teams. These include: 

The fast pace and constant demands of primary care can make it difficult to notice or respond to early signs of burnout. Conversations about wellbeing may get squeezed out, even with the best intentions. That’s why it’s essential to prioritise efforts to build a culture that supports early recognition. This takes time and care – but it’s a vital part of sustaining healthy, effective teams over the long term.

Tertiary strategies focus on supporting recovery for those already experiencing burnout, and, where possible, enabling a sustainable return to work. At this stage, the emphasis shifts from prevention to active treatment and rehabilitation. Recovery often requires coordinated support between individuals, teams and organisations, with an approach that is compassionate, flexible and responsive to the complexity of each situation. 

Recovery from burnout is rarely quick or straightforward, and the process can include setbacks. It may involve periods away from clinical duties, psychological therapy and adjustments to workload, expectations or responsibilities. It typically requires attention to multiple contributing factors – both personal and systemic. Support should be tailored to the individual, recognising the stage and severity of burnout, and be delivered in a way that promotes long-term wellbeing and successful reintegration into work.

Burnout is not just a personal issue – it usually reflects wider systemic and organisational pressures. Recovery therefore demands more than individual coping; it calls for organisational commitment to shared responsibility, supportive leadership and access to occupational and mental health services.

The evidence on effective treatment for burnout remains mixed. While many interventions show short-term benefits, they often have limited impact on longer-term outcomes such as sustained wellbeing or return to work. There’s a need for better-designed studies with long-term follow-up; a stronger focus on organisational change; and consistent definitions and measures of burnout across research (Burnout Research 2017; 4:1, Society of Occupational Medicine, 2023).

Some key steps in burnout treatment and recovery include:

How to plan and support the return to work

Planning a return to work is a key part of the recovery process – not a final step. It should begin with early, collaborative discussions to establish a phased, realistic approach that is tailored to the individual’s needs. Involving the individual, their line manager and occupational health in this process helps ensure that support is person-centred and recovery-focused.

Putting these strategies into practice can be challenging in busy healthcare settings. But small actions – such as really listening, offering flexible adjustments and showing a genuine commitment to improving wellbeing – can make a huge difference. The quality of support during a return to work is also crucial: the more responsive and tailored it is, the greater the chance of a successful and sustained recovery. We cannot expect people to return to the same conditions that contributed to burnout. Meaningful recovery requires lasting changes that make wellbeing a core part of everyday working life.

We cover this in more detail in our articles Building resilience and Roadmap to wellbeing: microskills for positive change, but here are a few quick tips:

Although this article may make for sobering reading, it reflects the reality that many clinicians face every day. The encouraging news is that the wellbeing of healthcare professionals is increasingly being recognised as fundamental to delivering safe, high-quality care. 

Support is available, yet many clinicians continue to delay seeking help. They minimise their own needs or push on long after things have become unsustainable. If you're finding things difficult, prioritise your own wellbeing and reach out for support – not as a last resort, but as a vital act of care for yourself. Practising self-care and compassion isn’t a luxury. It’s what helps you sustain your energy, keep perspective and continue engaging in work that matters, while still having the capacity to enjoy other parts of your life. 

Burnout in health professionals Burnout involves emotional, physical and mental exhaustion caused by excessive workplace stress. It is associated with poor patient outcomes, increased errors, disengagement and absenteeism. Key symptoms include exhaustion, reduced accomplishment and depersonalisation. Risk factors span organisational and individual factors, including workplace conditions, personality traits and coping strategies. Addressing burnout involves a multi-level approach, combining systemic changes and individual support. This may include: Primary interventions to improve working conditions. Secondary interventions to reduce individual and team stress. Tertiary interventions focused on recovery and rehabilitation for those who have become burned out.

Useful resources: Websites (all resources are hyperlinked for ease of use in Red Whale Knowledge) NHS Practitioner Health (offers free mental health support for health professionals) For more information on support organisations across the UK, including devolved nations, see our article Support for health professionals. Podcasts You Are Not A Frog Podcast: How to Catch Stress Early Before You Spiral into Burnout You Are Not A Frog Podcast: Am I Burning Out? You Are Not A Frog Podcast: The Biggest Mistakes People Make When They are Heading for Burnout Books Burnout-Free Working: your expert guide to thriving in a stressful workplace, Richard Duggins (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2025) Burnout, Claire Plumbly (Yellow Kite, 2024)