Health Care Workers More Likely to Die By Suicide, Says Study

Health care workers, especially nurses and support staff, such as medical assistants, home health aides and dental hygienists, face a heightened risk of dying by suicide compared to people who don’t work in a medical setting, according to a new study. 

Researchers, who published their work Tuesday in JAMA Network, reviewed data from more than 1.8 million health care employees from 2008 through 2019. The report found that suicide rates per 100,000 people were over 21% for health care support workers, around 16% for registered nurses and technicians, and 13% for physicians, compared to 12% for non-health care workers. Furthermore, findings indicate that female health care workers are more at risk for suicide than male workers.

The increased risk of suicide and mental health issues mainly stems from stress and being overtaxed by the emotional demands of providing care to severely ill and vulnerable populations while juggling heavy workloads, according to the researchers. 

While previous studies have examined the suicide risk among physicians, there’s very little scientific data on the mental health implications of health care support staff. Researchers examined the United States Census Bureau’s Mortality Disparities in American Communities data set for the study and focused on the causes of death among employed health care workers, including suicide. 

Support workers included the highest number of Black and Hispanic individuals among the groups of health care workers considered for the study. They were also among the lowest-paid health care workers, the study stated. 

“The importance of increased suicide risk of health care support workers is underscored by their growth from 3.8 million (in 2008) to 6.6 million (in 2021), coinciding with the aging of the U.S. population,” researchers wrote in the study. 

“Our results extend earlier research from outside the United States that health care workers compared with non health care workers have greater risks for mental health problems and long-term work absences due to mental disorders,” lead author Mark Olfson, M.D., a professor at Columbia University, said in a news release.

The new study’s data regarding deteriorating mental health among healthcare workers comes at a time when the industry stands at the precipice of a looming public health crisis due to growing health care staffing shortages where stress and burnout play a major role. 

In fact, more than 75,000 health care workers employed by Kaiser Permanente — the nation's largest nonprofit health care provider — are threatening to go on strike if a new labor contract isn't agreed to by the end of the month. If they decide to strike en masse, it could result in the largest-ever U.S. health care strike on record. 

“The majority of the issues with distress among health care workers relate to good, dedicated people who are in environments in which nobody could thrive. In fact, they’re almost performing at a super-human level to do as well as they are,” Colin West, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Program on Physician Well-Being at the Mayo Clinic said in an editorial on physician burnout published in February in JAMA Network. 

Concerns regarding health care workers’ dwindling mental health received heightened attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. But as COVID numbers fell and society began to resume normalcy, researchers wondered if health care workers’ mental health concerns would be put on the back burner.

In a 2021 survey on burnout that included more than 20,000 U.S. physicians and other health care providers, such as physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners, a staggering 60% of surveyors reported that they were suffering from burnout — the highest ever recorded. Because of the toll the “out of control” workload was taking on their quality of life, 40% said they intended to leave the profession entirely. 

To combat the growing issue, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) along with other government agencies and nonprofit organizations have launched several initiatives to improve health care workers’ well-being and mental health. 

In July, the CDC, in partnership with the American Hospital Association launched a suicide prevention guide in an effort to reduce stigma around  workers seeking mental health care and reducing job-related stressors. 

Last fall, the National Academy of Medicine launched the National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being — a step-by-step plan of action to build a workplace well-being plan for workers to offset the dangers associated with burnout. 

“Companies and health care organizations that take better care of their employees are places that employees want to work,” Dr. West said. “You have a competitive advantage if you can recruit, train and retain the best talent by giving them working environments where they want to be.”

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or struggling with suicidal thoughts, help is available 24 hours a day through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. You are not alone.