Can Medical Cannabis Help Treat Clinical Burnout Among Healthcare Professionals?

Translated from the website The GrowthOp

In addition to the 2.3 million COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and over 120,000 coronavirus deaths, there is an urgent medical situation as of mid-June. Treating medical personnel is an additional element of the pandemic, complicated by the rapid spread of the virus in the population.

Burnout has affected many professionals, but above all, medical communities, from doctors and nurses to emergency medical technicians. Despite all the pre-planning, there was little contingency planning for the sudden influx of new patients.

Understanding 'Burnout'

Patients are being treated under current pressing conditions by professionals who need to work with masks and protective equipment. Patients and medical staff have limited access to their families. And many medical professionals have also fallen ill. This creates a perfect storm for clinical burnout.

Medical alert fatigue and the critical need for healthcare professionals to prioritize a high level of data and care for responders are among the priorities. Dr. Noor Najid el Mehiri, a family physician and head of the Ministry of Health and Prevention of the United Arab Emirates, pointed out several challenges.

“The large volume of information generated and the fact that it is changing very quickly makes it a challenge for doctors to digest. We needed to ensure that the processes we implemented, in terms of information management, were practical and efficient for our doctors and nurses,” she mentioned.

But it is not just the acceleration of technology that adds stress; there are other administrative challenges often cited as causes of burnout. The various other factors are all combined in settings to assess and provide quality medical care within a timeframe. The intensity of the global response to COVID-19 conditions has led to the need to address the high levels of burnout experienced by medical professionals.

High Suicide Rates in Healthcare

Several years before COVID-19 hit the world, a medical expert indicated that over 1 million Americans lose their doctors or medical professionals annually to suicide. This statistic was said to be the result of psychological pressures caused by bullying, intimidation, sleep deprivation, and workplace pressures. “Suicide is an occupational hazard of our profession,” said Pamela Wibre, founder of Ideal Medical Care in Eugene, Oregon.

There is an additional dimension to the overall health crisis that the public does not see. Doctors are also patients, and the treatment of medical professionals for medical reasons is often not discussed as much as the professional challenges of healthcare, ultimately suggesting it is justified.

The conditions for doctors can be severe, but prescribing medical cannabis for doctors still faces many obstacles in the U.S. Changes in criminal, administrative, and labor laws do not meet the demand. The pressures of the COVID-19 response have complicated the issue.

In many states, employee drug policies still prevail over any laws that would otherwise allow the use of medical cannabis, says Brendan Abel, legal assistant at the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Practicing doctors in all U.S. states must maintain their standard of care or risk exposing themselves to liability for medical negligence and licensing actions. “Part of this is being free from bias, whether from legal or illegal substances,” says Abel.

He strongly suggests that any medical professional exploring necessary treatments with medical cannabis should first research the law as administered by their employers and the states in which they reside and operate to fully understand the risks. There have been some positive precedents, including some changes in the wording of administrative law that support the use and prescription of medical cannabis. But the rules and regulations vary so much from state to state that due diligence is necessary.