Helping Healthcare Workers Manage Stress - ApplicantStack
The article discusses the various stressors healthcare workers face, outlines signs of stress and burnout such as irritability, anxiety, and compassion fatigue, and emphasizes the importance of managerial support and mental health resources to improve worker well-being, retention, and patient care quality.
Workers in the healthcare industry face a variety of stressors: understaffed workplaces, budget shortfalls, insurance conflicts, and physical and emotional demands. Maintaining a well-run healthcare institution starts and ends with ensuring the staff receive the support they need to manage the challenges of their work. Here are some ways to help healthcare workers manage stress.
Signs of Healthcare Worker Stress
To adequately support healthcare workers, be aware of the signs that they may not be coping with job stress. According to the CDC, watch out for workers:
- Feeling irritated, angry, or in denial
- Feeling uncertain, nervous, or anxious
- Feeling helpless or powerless
- Lacking motivation
- Feeling tired, overwhelmed, or burned out
- Feeling sad or depressed
- Having trouble sleeping
- Having trouble concentrating
When left untreated, early signs of stress can lead to the more serious state of burnout, which the CDC describes as “a long-lasting state that can seriously impact workers’ abilities to respond to normal life activities adaptively and effectively, in and outside of work.” Burnout can lead to serious mental health challenges like depression and anxiety. People are likely to become emotionally disengaged from their work and life, and may even leave the profession altogether.
There is also an issue known as “compassion fatigue,” a state where “exposure to patients or clients experiencing trauma or distress can negatively impact a professional’s mental and physical health.”
In healthcare, where compassion and empathy are the guiding stars, managers should set a good example by reaching out to workers under pressure. Hospitals and healthcare facilities are vital to public health, and support for worker mental health contributes to productivity, efficiency, retention, and ultimately, better patient care.
Ways to Help Healthcare Workers Manage Stress
Use these tips to help your healthcare workers manage stressful situations.
Identify Stressors
When people are in a state of high anxiety, they often have trouble identifying specific reasons. Managers can be available to discuss the aspects of someone’s job they find the most difficult. Are they having trouble sleeping? Maybe a shift change could help. Are they finding a certain procedure challenging? Maybe those procedures can be assigned to someone else temporarily or permanently.
Sometimes, just naming what’s going on and having someone to listen can reduce feelings of stress. Approaching these concerns with understanding and an effort to apply actionable solutions can help the person feel heard and understood. Ideally, these check-in meetings will occur at regular intervals rather than in response to distress. With discussion, a relatively simple solution to a problem may reveal itself.
Offer Scheduling Flexibility
Shift scheduling – especially at large institutions – can be a tremendous challenge. Still, the CDC suggests that one way to reduce workplace stress is “implementing policies that provide workers with increased flexibility and control over their work and schedules.” Having a policy that allows workers to easily trade shifts can improve the work-life balance. Parents can attend kids’ school events, caregivers can respond to emergencies, and employees can take allotted PTO more easily.
When at-home scheduling stressors are more manageable, work stressors may also be more manageable.
Provide Support Groups
According to Krystal M. Lewis, PhD of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), an important part of stress management is to “start with just being aware of the physical and emotional signs of stress. Pay attention to how your body talks to you—whether you’re having physical symptoms, when you’re feeling fatigued or overwhelmed, your muscles are aching, you’re getting sick more often, or you’re irritable.” To respond properly, “it’s important to be aware of your own unique response to stress and to address the symptoms right away.”
Given the unique pressures of healthcare, it’s likely colleagues and co-workers are experiencing similar signs of stress. Organizing support groups at work can provide workers with an outlet for processing difficult shifts or intense events. You may consider outfitting an inviting space or the guidance of a mental health professional to lead a support group.
Give Adequate Breaks
Federal and state laws outline the required breaks in shift work, but that doesn’t mean every employee takes them regularly. You can establish a company culture that encourages employees to take their required breaks. This policy can help workers disrupt negative thought patterns, sit down if they’ve been on their feet for hours, and take time for nourishing food and hydration.
Taking regular breaks doesn’t mean workers are lazy; in fact, breaks contribute to more positive attitudes. Studies have shown that “Rest breaks are effective in decreasing professional burnout among registered nurses, especially when combined with management support, staffing support, and complementary strategies.”
Offer Perks and Benefits
Work that’s demanding physically and emotionally can make it difficult for healthcare workers to find time and energy to exercise. Yet studies show that “exercise can relieve stress, reduce depression and improve cognitive function.” Providing incentives like free or discounted memberships to gyms or yoga studios may be the push some employees need to cope with their stress. You may try contests or competitions among the staff, offering rewards for consecutive days with exercise or trying new forms of movement. Create a culture that values holistic physical and mental well-being.
Especially since the pandemic, healthcare workers have carried tremendous burdens for the public. Every day, their work involves compassionate care that can take a toll on their own emotional health. Management should take a multi-pronged approach to create a culture of support and caregiving.
Hiring healthcare workers is also a uniquely challenging situation that is easier to manage with the right tools. ApplicantStack includes functionality that streamlines finding qualified individuals and bringing them onboard in a consistent and engaging manner. Explore how ApplicantStack can help your organization improve hiring and retention rates.
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