Severe Burnout

[hammerpcp]

AH - typical woman - taking all the credit again!

Typical man! Not giving credit where credit is due.

[FormerEMSLT297]

Sounds like you are crispy, burnt, well done,,,, I think the previous advice is good. EAP, maybe a social/mental health worker or psych visit,, most health plans cover it....

Might i als osugesst a peer counseling group,,, sometimes getting together with a group of co-workers can healp,,, some other sugestions include:

1. Start an excercise program,,, get a hobby, do some crafts build models,,,, etc..

2. Try accepting your station in life,,, if the dept, doesnt care about taxi rides to the hospital look on the bright side, at least i dont have to carry the patient down 5 flightsd of stairs.

3. try a career change,, or transfer within the dept to training, or dispatch,, or something...

best of luck

[Asysin2leads]

Something I picked out of your post and really speaks to me, how you mentioned its not so much the bad calls or tough calls or not getting to do what you want, its more of the little aggravations, and I fully and wholeheartedly agree with you. The devil is in the details when it comes to burnout.

The stress of the work, either you get used to it or you quit. If you can get over your first couple of codes, or gory calls, or heartrending calls, you can pretty much deal with it or you quit, end of story.

But the other stuff, its what really eats away at you, isn't it? How many times can you have someone review your call report like an 8th grade English teacher before you just want to punch them in the face? How many times can you have the computer break down at the end of your overtime shift before you want to toss it through the window? How many times can you have that 300 lbs. woman complainiing of non-specific chest pain and a prescription to be filled as you wade her through her trash filled house as she verbally berates you while carrying her? How many times can a person with any shred of decency and self respect put up with a partner who is obnoxious, illiterate, and borderline insane before feeling like they're losing a grip on reality themselves?

I really think EMS employers need to be cognizant of these issues, the little hassles of day to day work that build up if they are to retain employees. That's my feeling.

[firescapes]

I just browsed through your post...have a look at mine Adrenaline junkie s just posted today....your symptons that you are experiencing have a lot to do with the bodies inablity to assimilate the adrenaline ....you may say hey after so many years i don't get fired up on these calls anymore...yeah! your brain don't but the old adrenal gland still does.....i am not saying this is the one and only cause for burnout but it is one of the big ones.Your post is a common one that I heard on the job...the list of things that you are tired of yet still like the job but list many things that get you down...alot of big departments etc. have stress management programs going and operating.... in the early days these were unheard of....if your work where you are does not have anything in place...why not be the forerunner in getting a stress management team together...this way you can combat what you are experiencing and help others out....do some research on burnout etc,. and present it to management for the need to have stress programs in place...if I can help don't hesitate to contact me...also check out the post at the top by Magic Dan the book he speaks of is now published and available....good book

[Scorpy_CFS]

I think one of the most concering things I heard was the fact that you're bottling up your stress. This is a sure way to achieve burnout. Having said that, you also pointed out that the last guy who tried to take personal time was berrated etc, and I know how this feels personally. When I worked as a crowd controller I had to poop beaten out of me by five blokes. When the fight was over, I left five minutes early to go to the ED to see if I'd had anything broken which was a big sign of weakness apparently and I was outcasted by the people that I'd been there to back up and keep safe for the previous three years. So, career change.

I'm not suggesting that you change careers if it is not something you don't wish to do, and from your responses and hence I end up making a point then offering advice, but what really annoys me is the 'keep it in or else you're weak' crap that a lot of brigades/departments/stations adopt is a breeding ground for psychological disaster. When you ask any of the firies around here what they love about the job (Firefighting only, no EMS, granted) they say the mateship, comradiere, and that nobody feels afraid to speak of their personal issues as everyone is there to support each other. I've been in a fire brigade that did this. You could talk about anything that was upsetting you and there'd be an informal think-tank as to how to solve the problem. We also had Critical Incident Stress Debrief teams who would be called in whether people wanted them or not because although 9 in 10 didn't need it, 1 did, or at least wanted it. I moved from the country, to the city where there was a 'bottle it' mentality and after trying two brigades with the same rubbish, I quit all together and went across to concentrate on health and EMS.

To sum up, I think the biggest problem here is the department you're in but you recognised that yourself. You're sick of EMS calls and I can empathise with that too as there's no greater buzz than firefighting and of course, the 'big fire.' Hell, I can recount every single detail of the building supplies factory and yard that went up. Awsome stuff. I can also empathise with the stress of not being able to do what you want to do. Just last night while working as an orderly, I was helping the ICU intensivist and ICU nurse return a patient from CT to the ward when halfway along the respirator started beeping madly like it had been doing for a fair bit of the trip. The doc and nurse both look closely at the monitor and try to fix it again, before halfway through a yawn I said that I think they'll find the patient has stopped breathing which might be the problem. Then I was pushed out of the way so that the doc could start manual respirations with the bag/mask, etc etc. I couldn't sleep when I got home because I am already starting to recognise the signs of burnout (From being an orderly no less) for the same 'can't do what I want' reasons.

The other big thing is to have a crew that you can feel completely comfortable with because they're supposed to be there for your emotional support as much as your physical support. A firie screwed in the head is no benefit to anyone and hence it is the entire crew's job to keep everyone sane. 'bottling' is far too dangerous for emergency service work.

[I Love Pumpernickle]

I was just wondering if anybody in here would classify what I'm experiencing as "burnout"?

A few years ago, I had someone who I used to work with "write me up" behind my back, and send it to my medical director, which, in turn caused me to have to under-go some remedial training.

Ever since this happened, I can't help but to wonder if it's going to happen again, being "written up" I mean, and it has me so paranoid that I have a hard time concentrating on the job now, because I keep wondering if I'm "good enough".

Does this sound like "burnout" to you? Do I need a break, or do I need a career change, or do I just need to get away from the arseholes who "wrote me up" and have no confidence in my skills?

Do I need to go see a professional, or what do you think is the deal with me?? I almost feel like I'm crazy at times, and that I can't trust anybody.

Any and all replies would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[Scorpy_CFS]

I think the term burnout is used fairly loosely to cover the dwindle in interest in a job over time, but I think when use correctly it has a more severe nature. I used to be involved in a service that I was very into, I would clock up hundreds of hours of administration hours on top of the hundreds of duty hours, I was the training officer, but over the period of a year, my interest dwindled, my work quality deteriorated (not patient contact) and I took an early break on top of the standard break. I thought that this would have revitalised me but on my return I was even less interested than when I'd went on break, I started missing mulitple training sessions, my duty hours dropped below 100 for the year, I eventually resigned my rank and trainer status and have not been to anything related to the service in months. To me, that is a simple burnout.

I'd imagine severe burnout as beginning to have negative reactions to work, beyond disinterest but hate, nausea when thinking about having to do duties, increasing arguements with co-workers, family and friends, especially when the topic of your job is brought up, etc. I'm not so sure what you have sounds like burnout but rather severe frustration at the lack of firefighting related work you end up doing. If you were fighting a good blaze every week, I doubt the EMS stuff would bother you as much. I may be wrong though. Only you know that.

[chaser]

Does this sound like "burnout" to you? Do I need a break' date=' or do I need a career change, or do I just need to get away from the arseholes who "wrote me up" and have no confidence in my skills? quote']

Hi-

If you really want some advice or suggestions, it would help to explain exactly what happened. It's hard to give you suggestions when it is unclear what happened.

[I Love Pumpernickle]

OK, here's what happened:

I came to work from another province, where I used to work wasn't a very high call volume, but I didn't feel as if my skills were suffering.

Then I went to work in an area with a higher call volume.

Next thing I know, I'm being called on the phone by my new supervisor, and he's asked me if I got a letter in the mail from my medical director, I said "no" because I hadn't, and my supervisor said "go stand by the fax machine, I'm going to fax you a copy of the letter". When I read that letter, I almost fell out of my chair! It said that my "co-workers had little to no confidence in my skills, and that nobody wanted to work with me because of this reason, and it was recommended that my ability to practice paramedicine be withdrawn until I could proove that I was competant in what I was doing".

I had to go meet with my medical director, and he put me thru many scenarios, which I passed with flying colors, so my PCP tag was not taken away from me.

But now, I have serious problems working with the people who "wrote me up". Is it normal to feel paranoid and angry all the time, or should I be grateful that I'm still allowed to work? It's been very hard to concentrate on my job as of late, because I'm always wondering who's going to "write me up" next!

Does this sound like "BURNOUT" to you? Or do I have a legitamate reason to feel the way that I do??

[I Love Pumpernickle]

Well, I've waited 2 days, and don't seem to be getting too many people answering my question..... :?

I wonder why?

Do you not know the answer to my question?