Building Resilience in Healthcare Starts in School

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Learning to cope with stress and burnout on the job isn’t the answer

by

Bethany Friedlander and Erin Slay, DNP, MHA, RN

January 21, 2src25

The healthcare sector is facing significant challenges, extending beyond staffing shortages. Research from the CDC highlights that nearly 8src% of healthcare workers are women, many of whom are particularly susceptible to burnout. A 2src23 study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that over half (56%) of nurses working in healthcare experience emotional exhaustion and struggle to meet job demands, along with 47% of physicians and 54% of other clinical staff. This contributes to a strained healthcare system, high turnover rates, and concerns regarding patient safety.

While burnout prevention is critical, addressing this issue cannot fall solely on healthcare employers. Many hospitals and healthcare organizations are already stretched thin with recruitment and operational demands, and asking them to take on extensive burnout and resiliency training is an unrealistic expectation. Educational institutions have a key role to play in preparing students for the emotional challenges they will face in healthcare careers.

Education as a Foundation for Resilience

As healthcare organizations continue to grapple with workforce challenges, it is essential for schools and training programs to equip students with the tools they need to manage the emotional and psychological demands of the profession. This is especially important for women and other groups who may face additional pressures in the workplace.

To support the future healthcare workforce, burnout prevention and resiliency training should be prioritized within educational curricula. Some institutions are beginning to incorporate mental health resources, peer support systems, and workshops on resilience into their programs. Additionally, some schools are introducing modules on “trauma-informed care” to help students understand and prepare for the emotional aspects of patient interactions. While these initiatives are steps in the right direction, further integration of emotional well-being practices is still needed.

For many women in healthcare, the need for resiliency training becomes even more pressing as they face the “midlife collision,” a period in which they juggle the demands of both their professional careers and potential caregiving responsibilities at home. Women are often tasked with raising children while simultaneously caring for aging parents, a dual role that adds significant stress to an already stressful career in nursing or medicine. This stage of life can amplify the challenges of burnout, as they navigate competing demands on their time and emotional energy.

Resiliency training is particularly important for these individuals, as it equips them with strategies to cope with the overwhelming pressures of balancing personal and professional responsibilities. By incorporating training that addresses the unique stressors faced by women in caregiving roles, educational programs can better prepare them for the demands they will face in the workforce and at home, helping them build the mental and emotional fortitude needed to maintain their well-being. Certainly, as more men take on dual healthcare and child care responsibilities, we anticipate this same level of burnout and fatigue.

The Need for Action in Healthcare Education

As the healthcare landscape evolves, it is important to recognize that resilience cannot be fully developed on the job; it must be cultivated from the outset. Educational institutions are uniquely positioned to help nursing, medical, and other students in healthcare build this skill, ensuring they are ready not only to enter the workforce but to thrive in it.

Schools and training programs should include wellness strategies in their curricula. Rather than offering generic advice, these strategies should focus on evidence-based practices such as mindfulness, stress management, and peer support. Providing these tools during education helps ease the transition into the workforce and alleviates pressures on employers already facing significant demands.

Prioritizing Burnout Prevention from the Start

The healthcare workforce faces an ongoing crisis of burnout, and addressing this issue early is critical. Many studies show that nurses and nursing students experience high levels of stress, with a significant proportion reporting anxiety and burnout due to academic pressures. Without the right training in burnout prevention, students may enter the workforce unprepared to handle the emotional demands of their jobs. This does not only affect nurses, of course — allied health professionals, doctors, and medical students all experience a high level of stressors.

Failure to address this issue at the educational level means missing a critical opportunity to equip healthcare workers for long-term success. By integrating burnout prevention and resiliency training into education, we can create a more sustainable healthcare workforce that is better prepared to meet growing demands.

Bethany Friedlander is president and CEO of New Bridge Cleveland, a workforce development program and school that provides tuition-free training for in-demand healthcare careers. Erin Slay, DNP, MHA, RN, is the assistant dean of Central School of Practical Nursing, Inc., Ohio’s oldest practical nursing program.