Healthcare Professionals

Healthcare Professionals

As the frontline caregivers in health care today, healthcare professionals accomplish a myriad of tasks and responsibilities, but often at high personal cost. The need to juggle competing priorities in often high-stress situations can result in feeling overwhelmed or burned out. Physicians (44%) and nurses (38%) both report feeling these effects at a higher rate than other professionals. The negative effect of these stressors can affect the ability of healthcare professionals to care for others. Organizations have a responsibility to support nursing staff and address the causes of burnout. Findings from a 2019 survey reveal that burnout is among the leading patient safety and quality concerns in their organizations. Only 5% of respondents said that their organization was highly effective at helping staff address burnout. Approximately 39% of respondents said their organization was slightly effective at dealing with burnout, and 56% said their facility was either slightly ineffective or highly ineffective at helping staff address burnout. How can you help yourself or employees in your organization combat these effects? Begin by searching the resources below:

What can I do to address stigma in my organization?

  • What can I do to reduce stigma in my organization?

    • Stigma regarding mental health is often the result of a lack of information or incorrect information. People often assume that stigma is related to clearly negative intentions and obviously harmful behaviors. The truth is, however, that stigma is based on assumptions that are uninformed. This article provides guidance for persons living with mental health, parents, friends, or co-workers who know someone living with mental health, and leaders who foster a healthy workplace environment.

  • National Alliance on Mental Illness

    • About 75% of employees have struggled with an issue that affected their mental health. Yet, 8 out of 10 workers with a mental health condition say shame and stigma prevent them from seeking mental health care. That’s a problem for individuals, but it’s also a problem for employers — because untreated mental health conditions cost American companies billions every year.

  • Why stigma is a workforce and organizational health issue

    • About 75% of employees have struggled with an issue that affected their mental health. Yet, 8 out of 10 workers with a mental health condition say shame and stigma prevent them from seeking mental health care. That’s a problem for individuals, but it’s also a problem for employers — because untreated mental health conditions cost American companies billions every year.

Building resilience helps individuals adapt and overcome the effects of stress and trauma associated with being a healthcare professional. It not only helps us move past these events in a healthier manner, but also gives us positive traumatic growth following the event. Creating a self-care plan helps individuals to improve their immunity, increase positive thinking and make them less susceptible to stress, depression, anxiety and other emotional health issues.

How can I reduce the effects of trauma in my employees?

  • How to Build Resilience

    • A brief explanation of what resilience is, the importance building resilience, and ways you can build it to create a healthier and less stressful life.

  • Healthcare Toolbox: Self-care Resources

    • Self-care resources for medical professionals to prevent secondary traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout.

  • Self-Care Toolkit

    • When faced with challenges, we can use either positive coping strategies or negative coping strategies. Use this step-by-step guide on creating a self-care plan will help you practice positive coping strategies.

Clinician burnout is a serious U.S. public health concern. Mounting health care system pressures are contributing to burnout, which threatens the health, safety, and well-being of the individual clinician, patients, and society at large. When healthcare professional’s physical and mental health issues go unaddressed, they are at heightened risk for occupational injury, problematic alcohol use, risk of depression and suicide, career regret, and suboptimal professional development.

How can I help my employees?

  • Resources for Healthcare Leaders to Combat Clinician Burnout
  • Trauma Informed Healthcare Organizations
    • Trauma- Informed Care Implementation Resource Center

      • A comprehensive approach to trauma-informed care must be adopted at both the clinical and organizational levels. Adopting trauma-informed practices can potentially improve patient engagement, treatment adherence, and health outcomes, as well as provider and staff wellness. It can also help reduce avoidable care and excess costs for both the healthcare and social service sectors.

    • Strategies for Encouraging Staff Wellness in Trauma-Informed Organizations

      • This brief focuses on practical strategies for encouraging staff wellness and fostering trauma-informed approaches to care in healthcare organizations.

  • Peer Support Program
    • Peer Support Program Toolkit for Healthcare Organizations

      • This toolkit contains evidence-based information about the effectiveness of peer support programs, the important role peers can plan in an organization as well as step-by-step instructions to create a successful and sustainable peer support program. It is designed for hospitals, healthcare clinics, and community agencies and organizations.

  • Building a Resilient Workforce
    • Work & Well-being Toolkit for Physicians

      • This toolkit is designed for use by physicians to facilitate their individual and workplace well-being. Physicians’ peers and employers can also use this toolkit as a reference. The toolkit contains step-by-step instructions about education regarding the importance of maintaining overall wellness for a physician, developing skills for assessing one’s overall wellness and identifying goals to further promote wellness, low burden means of assessing readiness to change related to increasing wellness behaviors, and evidence-based strategies for improving wellness.

    • Building Resilience to Combat Nurse Burnout
      • Nurses accomplish a myriad of tasks and responsibilities, but often at high personal cost. The need to juggle competing priorities in often high-stress situations can result in feeling overwhelmed or burnout. Organizations have a responsibility to support nursing staff and address the causes of burnout. An emerging method to do this is by developing and fostering resilient environments and individuals.

Continuous training and education will reduce the negative consequences a traumatic event will have on your employees.

Training

  • Resiliency Training Institute

    • Explore many resilience training courses to help grow your staff’s personal, professional and organizational resilience. Call 1-800-501-1245 to speak with a resilience training facilitator; they will conduct a needs assessment and suggest a resilience skills training program that’s right for your organization. Whether you’re considering a resilience training seminar, a Train-The-Trainer resilience program, or even a resilience keynote they can assist you in making the right selection.