“Dignity of work and rights of workers” is a pillar of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) that advises both how we should engage with our work environment and what we, as employees, should expect from our employers. This aspect of CST places a great importance on the work that we do, making it more than a way to earn a living. Work is a should be a method of interacting with the world God has placed around us. It should be a vehicle that allows us to use our uniquely personal talents to contribute to the good of another. As Pope Francis says in Laudato Si, “Work should be the setting for this rich personal growth, where many aspects of life enter into play: creativity, planning for the future, developing our talents, living out our values, relating to others, giving glory to God.” (2015, pg. 94) The pillar of CST calls us to make the workplace more that work. This lens adds a moral obligation to those in charge of the workplace to make it an environment that facilitates personal growth and economic stability for those it employs. Administration is responsible for their employees, as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop writes, “If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers should be respected” (2020). The healthcare industry is not separated from this teaching. In fact, this pillar of CST is almost more important in healthcare. Healthcare work is compassionate in its nature: caregivers look for the source of physical, mental, and emotional suffering and try to alleviate the pain. Doctors, physician assistants, and nurses deserve an environment that allows them to be compassionate and supports them in their valiant effort to care for others. They deserve to be treated as more than merely a fixer of problems or a pawn in a business model. Unfortunately, however, this is not always the case. The current structure of the healthcare system (both in the United States and all over the world) is not always conducive to supporting healthcare workers in this way. In fact, many of the ways in which it operates stand as an obstacle for doctors to find value in their work. For example, insurance companies require extensive and exactly correct documentation of every interaction with the patient in order for the doctors to receive payment. Although the keeping of records is important for tracking the patient history and can hold doctors accountable, it distracts them because they must be thinking about how they are going to account for the patient interaction while they are seeing the patient. Additionally, most of their time is spent doing paperwork. Research shows that up to two hours is spent doing the necessary documentation for every one hour a doctor spends directly interacting with patients (Vachon, 2020, 287). Many other, arguably unhealthy and/or unattainable, pressures are placed on doctors: they are put through an incredibly strenuous training process, encouraged to see more patients in less time, and even at times taught to emotionally detach from their work. All of these trends, while explainable and possibly well intentioned, are examples of ways in which the healthcare industry as it currently stands fails to support the healthcare professions in caring for others. These failures of the system have serious implications. For example, overall physician burnout rate is 42% and can reach up to 54% depending on the specialty (Berg, 2020). One doctor commits suicide every day, making the medical profession the one with the highest suicide rate of any profession (Anderson, 2018). The dignity of the healthcare profession and the rights of the doctors, physician’s assistants, and nurses are at risk if the environment in which they work does not promote overall wellbeing of the individual. However, there are many good examples of ways in which health systems are acknowledging these failures and trying to improve. For example, Saint Joseph Health System in South Bend is trying to combat the rates of physician depression and suicide. During suicide prevention month, they launched an education campaign, listing the signs of suicide and depression so that those who work in their system know what to look for in their peers. Additionally, they launched a short, anonymous survey to their staff, the answers of which will be evaluated by a counselor and a response (indicating whether further action is recommended or even urgent) will be given to the User ID number (SJHS – Physician Suicide Prevention Awareness, 2020). This is just one example of how healthcare systems are moving more towards creating a space in which workers can thrive in their professional vocation. Although the healthcare system in the United States has a long way to go, encouraging steps such as these prove that a system more equipped to uphold the dignity of work and promote the rights of the workers is possible.
Works Cited: Anderson, P. (2018, May 08). Doctors' Suicide Rate Highest of Any Profession. Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20180508/doctors-suicide-rate-highest-of-any-profession Berg, S. (2020, January 21). Physician burnout: Which medical specialties feel the most stress. Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/physician-burnout-which-medical-specialties-feel-most-stress Pope Francis. (2015). Laudato Si. Retrieved 2020, from https://w2.vatican.va/content/dam/francesco/pdf/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si_en.pdf SJHS - Physician Suicide Prevention Awareness [E-mail to 982697990 760926165 M. Sandock]. (2020, September 16). United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (2020). The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers. Retrieved October 11, 2020, from https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/the-dignity-of-work-and-the-rights-of-workers Vachon, D. O. (2020). How Doctors Care: The Science of Compassionate and Balanced Caring in Medicine (Vol. 1). San Diego, CA: Cognella.