Akyol Cihangir, Celik Suleyman Utku, Koc Mehmet Ali, Bayindir Duygu Sezen, Gocer Mehmet Ali, Karakurt Buket, Kaya Mustafa, Kekec Sena Nur, Simsek Furkan Aydin
Department of General Surgery, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
Department of General Surgery, Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Front Surg. 2022 Apr 28;9:898274. doi: 10.3389/fsurg.2022.898274. eCollection 2022.
Patient deaths are an unavoidable occurrence in surgical practice. Although these events have negative effects on patients and their families, they can also have a profound adverse impact on surgeons who are unprepared for these deep emotional experiences. This study aims to investigate the impact of patient deaths on general surgeons' psychosocial well-being and surgical practices.
A national cross-sectional survey of a 30-item questionnaire was conducted. The survey evaluated the surgeons' demographics, professional and practice characteristics, and the impact of patient deaths on their emotional well-being, professional career, and social life.
Four hundred eighty participants completed the survey. One-third of the participants reported that patient deaths affected their emotional well-being, 23.3% reported that patient deaths affected their social life, and 34.2% reported that patient deaths affected their professional career. Surgeons who reported suffering from the emotional impact of death exhibited no differences in terms of place of practice, academic title, surgical experience, work hours, or annual surgical volume. Middle-aged surgeons ( = 0.004), females ( = 0.041), and surgeons who reported feeling burned out ( < 0.001) were more likely to be affected by patient loss. Feelings of sadness, worry, and stress were most reported. A total of 18.1% of the participants indicated that they considered taking a break after patient death, and 11.9% thought they would abandon their surgical career.
The findings of this study suggest that patient death affects surgeons' psychosocial well-being and surgical practices. Greater awareness and effort are required at the personal, institutional, and organizational level to provide effective support, helping surgeons to cope with the emotional burden of patient deaths.
在外科手术实践中，患者死亡是不可避免的。尽管这些事件会对患者及其家属产生负面影响，但对于那些没有为这些深刻情感经历做好准备的外科医生来说，也可能产生深远的不利影响。本研究旨在调查患者死亡对普通外科医生心理社会幸福感和手术实践的影响。
开展了一项针对一份30项问卷的全国性横断面调查。该调查评估了外科医生的人口统计学特征、专业和实践特点，以及患者死亡对其情绪幸福感、职业生涯和社会生活的影响。
480名参与者完成了调查。三分之一的参与者报告称患者死亡影响了他们的情绪幸福感，23.3%的参与者报告称患者死亡影响了他们的社会生活，34.2%的参与者报告称患者死亡影响了他们的职业生涯。报告受死亡情感影响的外科医生在执业地点、学术职称、手术经验、工作时长或年手术量方面没有差异。中年外科医生（=0.004）、女性（=0.041）以及报告感到倦怠的外科医生（<0.001）更有可能受到患者死亡的影响。最常报告的情绪是悲伤、担忧和压力。共有18.1%的参与者表示他们考虑在患者死亡后休息一段时间，11.9%的人认为他们会放弃外科职业生涯。
本研究结果表明，患者死亡会影响外科医生的心理社会幸福感和手术实践。在个人、机构和组织层面需要提高认识并做出努力，以提供有效的支持，帮助外科医生应对患者死亡带来的情感负担。
