Half of junior docs ‘in distress’
The survey of 270 junior doctors found that 48.5% displayed psychological distress, meaning they are particularly vulnerable to a variety of mental health problems including stress, anxiety, depression, substance abuse issues, burnout, and even suicidal tendency.
In answering the survey, the issue which caused most respondents the highest source of stress was ‘on-call commitment’, followed by ‘nursing staff’.
According to the report: “Nursing staff were regarded as a source of stress by two thirds of interns. Although the relationship between interns and nurses is crucial for patient safety and quality of care, there is a surprisingly small amount of literature examining the relationship between these two professions.”
More than three quarters of respondents agreed that there was “a conflict between my social life and my work life”, with few believing they had enough time for social activities or relationships.
The survey, carried out in January 2012 but just published in the Irish Journal of Medical Science, revealed: “Only 7% of the respondents to the current survey who were higher than the threshold for concern ... had sought medical help for mental ill health in the past. Even more alarmingly, of the eight respondents who scored the maximum possible score... only one had sought medical help for mental ill health in the past.”
One of the study’s authors, NUI Galway’s Paul O’Connor, said: “They are not in a good way. You are protected a bit as a student in a way that you are not as a junior doctor.”
He said the European Working Time Directive had improved the amount of sleep taken on the job, but many interns still felt overwhelmed by the sudden increase in responsibility.
Dr O’Connor, a lecturer in primary care, said: “The whole health service is under stress as an organisation. We have low numbers of nurses and consultants. Morale is low.”
The report concludes: “Since the data were collected in this study, there have been attempts by some of the intern training networks in Ireland to address mental ill health among interns.
“However, there is inconsistency in the approach to targeting mental ill health across the intern training networks, and the effectiveness of these interventions has not been measured.”
