Fostering Multidisciplinary Care May Reduce Oncologist Workplace Burnout

Commentary
Video

Joseph C. Landolfi, DO, CPE, and Michele Morrison, MPH, BSHA, RN, discuss how they can use their leadership roles to improve cancer care.

A recent survey published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology showed that workplace burnout among oncologists increased by 14% from 2013 to 2023.1 Several identified causes of this burnout trace back to administrative tasks that many oncologists didn’t foresee having to take part in.

CancerNetwork® spoke with members of leadership at the recent opening of a new cancer center as part of Hackensack Meridian Health JFK University Medical Center.2 To help combat this increase in burnout, Joseph C. Landolfi, DO, CPE, the chief medical officer and vice president of JFK University Medical Center, spoke about how a multidisciplinary team itself can help reduce burnout. He described how a team with diversely skilled clinicians helps to spread out the workload.

Michele Morrison, MPH, BSHA, RN, the newly appointed president and chief hospital executive of JFK University Medical Center and a former nurse, spoke about how having all clinicians in the same building and on the same floor encourages strong levels of communication and collaboration. Everyone—from a physician, to a nurse, to a surgical oncologist—can be found quickly and easily, which should make patient care more efficient.

Transcript:

Landolfi: I think having a multidisciplinary team in and of itself helps to reduce burnout among team members because [when] you’re working together, it’s not 1 or 2 people taking the whole load on themselves. There’s a division of labor, but there’s also that support network that you have for one another. [Hackensack Meridian Health] is dedicated to not only physicians and nurses, but [to wellness for] all team members. There’s a strong focus to reduce burnout and improve the quality of our work lives.

Morrison: It is really about the collaboration and being part of a multidisciplinary team. [Everyone] being here in the same building and being able to talk to each other on a regular basis [is important]. [It’s about] being able to have a patient before them, and if they need a nurse, if they need the hematologist-oncologist, or if they need a surgical oncologist, they are all right here, readily available. It’s strictly floor-to-floor, or down the hole. It is quick, it is accessible, and it is comprehensive.

References

  1. Schenkel C, Levit LA, Kirkwood K, et al. State of professional well-being, satisfaction, and career plans among US oncologists in 2023. J Clin Oncol. Published online January 29, 2025. doi:10.1200/OA.24.00010
  2. Hackensack Meridian Health expands cancer services with new facility at JFK University Medical Center. News release. Hackensack Meridian Health. May 2, 2025. Accessed May 7, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/3p9wjd2u
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