TY - JOUR T1 - Burnout and empathy in primary care: three hypotheses JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 346 LP - 347 DO - 10.3399/bjgp12X652193 VL - 62 IS - 600 AU - Franck Zenasni AU - Emilie Boujut AU - Aude Woerner AU - Serge Sultan Y1 - 2012/07/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/62/600/346.abstract N2 - In the last 10 years, a growing literature about empathy in primary care indicates that, for both patient and clinician, empathy helps to improve many aspects of health care practice and patient satisfaction. Wensing et al1 indicated that humaneness, exploring the needs of patients, and good communication skills are some of the high priorities that patients expect from their GP. Cape et al2 showed that doctor empathy coded by external observers was positively correlated with listening interactions and patient involvement. Vedsted and Heje3 found that patients tended to recommend their GP to others if they judged them as ‘empathic’. Mercer et al4 showed a positive relationship both between GP empathy and patient enablement at the consultation, and between patient enablement and changes in the main symptom and well-being evaluated 3 months after the consultation. Finally, Verheul et al5 investigated the impact of a warm and empathic consultation compared to a cold and formal consultation on the certainty of the outcome. The greatest beneficial effects of empathic communication on stress reduction and expectancies were observed when it was combined with a positive expectations style.To preserve effective empathy in care, the health provider must be in a positive frame of mind and not affected by stress or burnout. Burnout occurs when individuals feel emotionally overwhelmed by the … ER -