⚡ Quick Summary
This systematic scoping review highlights the emotional and psychological toll that caring for dying patients has on surgeons. The findings emphasize the urgent need for personalized support to prevent issues such as burnout and depression among surgical professionals.
🔍 Key Details
- 📊 Dataset: 4,966 titles and abstracts, 174 full-text articles reviewed, 26 full-text articles analyzed
- 🧩 Methodology: Systematic Evidence-based Approach (SEBA) and AI-assisted analysis
- ⚙️ Technology: ChatGPT 4o and Notebook LM for assistive analysis
- 🏆 Key Findings: Two main domains identified: impact on personhood and predisposing factors
🔑 Key Takeaways
- 💔 Surgeons experience significant emotional distress from patient deaths.
- 🧠 Psychological impacts include moral and existential dilemmas faced by surgical teams.
- ⚠️ Without support, surgeons are at risk for depression, burnout, and substance abuse.
- 📈 Effective support systems are crucial for maintaining surgeon welfare and patient safety.
- 🔍 AI tools can enhance the comprehensiveness of systematic reviews.
- 🌟 Personalized assessment tools are needed to address the unique challenges faced by surgeons.
- 📅 Study period: Articles published from January 2000 to September 2024.
- 👥 Interprofessional team dynamics are affected by the emotional burden of caring for dying patients.
📚 Background
The role of surgeons has evolved significantly, with an increasing emphasis on patient-centered care. As they engage more deeply with patients and their families, surgeons often find themselves grappling with the emotional weight of caring for the dying. This emotional burden can lead to serious implications for both surgeon welfare and patient safety.
🗒️ Study
This study employed a systematic scoping review methodology, guided by the Systematic Evidence-based Approach (SEBA). The research team analyzed a wide range of literature to explore the effects of caring for dying patients on surgeons. The integration of AI tools like ChatGPT 4o and Notebook LM aimed to enhance the reliability and depth of the findings.
📈 Results
The review identified a total of 26 articles that provided insights into the emotional and psychological impacts on surgeons. Two key domains emerged: the impact on personhood and various predisposing factors that contribute to the emotional distress experienced by surgical professionals. The findings from AI-assisted analysis corroborated the results from the independent thematic analysis conducted by the research teams.
🌍 Impact and Implications
The implications of this study are profound. By recognizing the emotional challenges faced by surgeons, healthcare institutions can develop effective support systems that prioritize surgeon welfare. This, in turn, can lead to improved patient outcomes and enhanced satisfaction for both patients and their families. The integration of AI in research also opens new avenues for understanding complex emotional dynamics in healthcare settings.
🔮 Conclusion
This AI-assisted systematic scoping review underscores the critical need for personalized support for surgeons dealing with the emotional aftermath of patient deaths. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, it is essential to prioritize the mental health of surgical professionals to ensure both their well-being and the safety of their patients. Ongoing research and the development of tailored assessment tools will be vital in addressing these challenges.
💬 Your comments
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The impact of death and caring for the dying and their families on surgeons – an AI assisted systematic scoping review.
Abstract
CONTEXT: Surgeons are taking central roles in caring for patients leaving them prone to the emotional turmoil and grief of patients and families and the moral, psychological and existential distress of members of the interprofessional team and trainees. This has implications on patient safety and surgeon welfare.
OBJECTIVES: A systematic scoping review was carried out to address the primary research question “what is known of the effects of caring for the dying and the impact of patient’s death on surgeons?”. It is hoped that the insights gained will better guide support and assessment of surgeons in their evolving roles.
METHODS: Guided by the Systematic Evidence-based Approach (SEBA), we conducted a systematic scoping review (SSR). This review included articles published between 1st January 2000 and 2nd September 2024 on Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, Google Scholar, ERIC databases. To enhance trustworthiness and enhance the comprehensiveness of our review the articles identified were also evaluated using ChatGPT 4o and Notebook LM. The findings of these assistive processes were compared with the independent thematic and content analysis carried out by the two research teams.
RESULTS: In total, 4966 titles and abstracts were identified, 174 full-text articles were reviewed, and 26 full-text articles analysed. With the findings of the assistive analysis by the AI tools echoing the findings of the research teams- two key domains were identified: (1) the impact on personhood, (2) predisposing factors.
CONCLUSION: This AI assisted SSR in SEBA confirms that surgeons do suffer from the cumulative effects of caring for dying patients and their families and from the death of the patient and supporting the family and members of the interprofessional team and trainees. Without timely and personalized support surgeons are prone to depression, burnout, and substance abuse, and compromises to patient and family experiences, outcomes, safety and satisfaction. The need for effective longitudinal and personalized assessment tools is clear.
Author: [‘Tan JR’, ‘Ong YT’, ‘Fam VJE’, ‘Sinnathamby A’, ‘Ravindran N’, ‘Ng Y’, ‘Krishna LKR’]
Journal: BMC Surg
Citation: Tan JR, et al. The impact of death and caring for the dying and their families on surgeons – an AI assisted systematic scoping review. The impact of death and caring for the dying and their families on surgeons – an AI assisted systematic scoping review. 2025; 25:56. doi: 10.1186/s12893-025-02792-1