Physician Stress has Been Associated With Adverse Medical Outcomes

Physician stress is increasingly recognised as an overlooked yet important indicator of the quality and safety of patient care. Physicians working under acute care conditions, for example, in Emergency Departments (EDs), face a combination of cognitive load, interruptions, communication challenges and time-urgency conditions that are reported to increase the risk of adverse medical events. Of special interest is whether stressor-induced biological processes, such as activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and inflammation, contribute to cognitive deficits in physicians. Read more.