Case managers act as client advocates, coordinators, and communication specialists who carry heavy workloads every day. Without proper strategies in place, it’s easy to burn out from the constant mental and emotional demands that are required. In order to be the best advocate for your clients, it’s crucial to practice self care and set clear boundaries so that you remain healthy, happy, and motivated to do your best.
The Importance of Case Managers
Case managers care for clients who are in difficult circumstances, suffering from draining conditions, and in frustrating situations. Their job is to advocate and coordinate services that improve each client’s quality of life, but this draining work can quickly take its toll. Burnout is prevalent in health care, and especially for case managers who pour themselves so generously into the care of each client.
At PASCO, we value the work that case managers do, and we know that a client won’t receive proper care without a healthy, happy case manager on their team. That’s why it’s so important to have strategies in place to prevent burnout and provide necessary self-care.
Understanding Case Manager Burnout
Burnout is a term that describes complete exhaustion — mentally, physically, and emotionally. A person who is suffering from burnout has probably been under crippling stress that leaves them feeling overwhelmed and depleted. When this happens, it’s hard to feel motivated or hopeful about your career, and you may feel like you’re detached from yourself and others. This makes it incredibly difficult to do your job or recognize personal accomplishments.
In order to care for your clients, it’s important to recognize signs and symptoms of burnout before they begin to affect your job and health. Some signs of burnout include:
- Decreased satisfaction
- Exhaustion
- Feeling detached
- Loss of motivation
- Feeling helpless
Without proper self-care, burnout can quickly lead to consequences that affect your health, your quality of life, and the clients in your care.
Factors that Contribute to Burnout
In case management, there are many factors that contribute to burnout. Recognizing them and being aware of potential issues can help you to monitor your health and avoid burning out.
- Managing Case Loads and Administrative Tasks. The burden of keeping up with administrative tasks like communicating and collaborating with care teams and advocating for your clients can be overwhelming and hard. This, on top of huge changes being made due to Colorado’s case management redesign, can be difficult to manage. It’s important to know your limits and speak up when you feel like you’re shouldering a load that’s too heavy.
- Emotional Stress. Case workers are known for being incredibly empathetic which makes them so good at what they do. The struggle comes when clients have difficult cases and heartbreaking circumstances that can be emotionally draining to witness and manage.
- Lack of Resources. Unfortunately, there’s often limited support for case workers, and they manage enormous case loads. On top of this, many case managers don’t receive enough training to do their jobs efficiently — and they rarely receive enough information regarding self-care.
The Impact of Burnout on Case Managers
When a case manager burns out, they can suffer many professional consequences. Decreased job satisfaction and reduced effectiveness lead to a high turnover rate in the field. Personal consequences can also greatly affect their health and happiness. Mental health problems are common and relationships can become strained. A case manager may also experience physical health effects like headaches, fatigue, and stomach problems.
How to Prevent Burnout
Fortunately, there are several ways to prevent burnout. Self-care is one of the best ways to ensure that your cup is full enough to pour out into the world without becoming empty. Some important self-care strategies include:
- Learning to set boundaries
- Practicing mindfulness
- Making healthy lifestyle choices
- Prioritizing tasks
- Practicing effective time management techniques
Regular meetings with your supervisors can help to keep a finger on the pulse of satisfaction in the workplace, and peer support groups provide a safe place to share your experiences with other people in the same line of work.
How to Build Resilience Against Burnout
A case manager must be proactive in order to avoid burnout. This means developing resilience emotionally and professionally. Emotional intelligence and coping strategies are essential in staying emotionally healthy and able to do your job effectively.
Professional resilience is developed by participating in continuous learning and learning to be flexible in the workplace.
The Role of Organizations
Organizations bear the responsibility of maintaining a work environment that’s supportive and strong. Staff should always feel supported, and employee assistance programs must be in place to ensure that case managers have the support they need to do their jobs well.
There are many ways that an organization can support their staff. Burnout awareness training and stress management workshops are perfect ways to provide staff members with the resources they need and continuous support as they shoulder the loads of difficult cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Know the Signs and Strategies to Prevent Burnout
Burnout can be a serious condition that affects a case manager’s health, job, and well-being. A case manager’s job is deeply important to the quality of life of each client, but never at the sacrifice of their own quality of life. It’s crucial that case managers receive adequate support and the right tools for self-care in order to do their job well and stay healthy at the same time.
At PASCO, we value case workers and we’re committed to helping them thrive. To learn more about becoming a case worker and see how PASCO collaborates with case managers every day, contact us.
Organizations must provide the training and support that case managers need in order to do their jobs effectively and prevent the effects of burnout.
