Healthcare Professional Distress and Mental Health: A Call to the Continuing Professional Development Community

Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions (01/18/24) Turco, Mary G.; Sockalingam, Sanjeev; Williams, Betsy

The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant burnout and emotional distress for many healthcare professionals as they worked to treat patients while needing to rapidly acquire new knowledge and skills and dealing with limited resources, staffing shortages and other problems. "Concurrently," researchers note, "problems with systemic racial inequality and discrimination became more apparent secondary to difficulties with accessing healthcare for minorities and other marginalized groups." The authors stress the need to address the mental health needs of healthcare professionals and to include wellness and mental health "as organizing principles in all we do." They recommend following a mental model that highlights learners' biopsychosocial functioning and developing activities that support a biopsychosocial approach. "It is crucial that continuing professional development leaders globally use their resources and relationships to accomplish this imperative call for action," the authors assert.

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