Blog
Resources to Understand and Address Professional Burnout, Build Resiliency
- By: IPA
- On: 04/17/2019 11:52:31
- In: IPA Updates
- Comments: 0
Addressing well-being and burnout with in the pharmacy profession is a primary goal of IPA's strategic plan and the association is tackling this issue on several fronts.
Addressing well-being and burnout with in the pharmacy profession is a primary goal of IPA's strategic plan. IPA recognizes that any advancement of the profession will never meet its full potential if those boots-on-the-ground pharmacists and pharmacy technicians tasked with providing additional services and patient care are compromised by burnout. Perhaps more importantly, a healthy and thriving clinician workforce is imperative to ensuring optimal patient health outcomes and safety.IPA is tackling this issue on several fronts, including compiling a website of resources – www.iarx.org/burnout - to help our members understand and assess burnout and find self-care tools to improve their well-being to help reverse burnout and build resiliency.
A Refresher
Before getting into the resources that IPA has compiled, here is a quick overview of professional burnout and resiliency.The National Academy of Medicine describes burnout as “a syndrome characterized by a high degree of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (i.e., cynicism), and a low sense of personal accomplishment at work.”
The Berkeley Well-being Institute describes resiliency as “the ability to manage challenges, quickly recovering from them, and even growing and improving as a result of these challenges.”
The Resources
With these definitions in place, here's an overview of the resources available. Use them for yourself or refer them to a colleague. Many of these resources are not profession-specific, so they can be used by your non-pharmacy colleagues as well.Understanding burnout
Understand what burnout is (and is not) and how it affects you, your colleagues, your practice, and potentially your patients. Included are the National Academy of Medicine's extensive resource center, research articles, and the efforts of national organization to address burnout.
Assessment
Here you will find tools to assess work-related dimensions of well-being and levels of burnout. These tools include those for self-assessment and team, practice, or institution-wide measurement.
Resources
Find tools, tips, and strategies to build resilience and improve overall well-being in order to reverse or prevent burnout. This extensive list includes resources for
- Leaders
- Individuals (Including Student Pharmacists)
- Online Community-Build: Peer Support
- Promoting Resiliency
- Personal Well-being
What Else?
IPA's burnout and resiliency page will continually be updated as additional resources become available. The webpage is just one of several ways IPA is working to address this important issue.


This topic is of vital importance to the association and the profession. IPA will continue to provide resources for our members to address burnout in their own lives and the lives of their friends, colleagues, teams, and organizations.
Comments
There have been no comments made on this article. Why not be the first and add your own comment using the form below.
Leave a comment
Commenting is restricted to members only. Please login now to submit a comment.