How to manage burnout and ensure quality care: Leading your workforce through COVID-19
COVID-19 has put significant strain on the healthcare workforce, as it has demanded significant clinical resources and challenged staff wellbeing. During an October 7 webinar, experts from Medical Solutions discussed how health systems can efficiently manage staffing during the pandemic with a human-first approach.
The webinar focused on recruitment and retention, managing nurse burnout and the importance of workplace culture. To access the full webinar, visit: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/ManageBurnoutWebinar.
1 The rate of nurse burnout has increased, due to a number of factors.
Nurse burnout has been on the rise during the pandemic for a number of reasons, but the increase in patient fatalities due to COVID -19 has been one of the most significant stressors on frontline caregivers. Even in absence of that, the complexities of the pandemic are leading to mental and physical exhaustion. This strain is leading to an increase in nurse-to-patient ratios, which were exacerbated by an already-existing nursing shortage.
2 Burnout presents significant risk to both patient outcomes and your bottom line.
When nurses are working overtime, medication errors are 3.71 times more likely to occur and hospital-acquired infections are 3.39 times more likely, according to an NCSBN study. Additionally, when an RN works more than 13 hours a day, they are more than 2.6 times more likely to leave their job in the next year, presenting a costly problem. The average cost of turnover for one bedside nurse is $44,400, but each percent decrease in RN turnover can save an average hospital $306,000 a year, according to a Medical Solutions report.
3 Reducing burnout starts at the beginning of the employee lifecycle—inrecruitment.
The first opportunity to impact burnout is in your hiring practice. That starts with being intentional in candidate evaluations. While health systems are normally evaluating nursing candidates primarily for their technical skills, Medical Solutions has found that most turnover is caused by more subjective elements leading to a ‘poor fit,’ such as communication or nursing style. For this reason, it’s critical that leaders integrate cultural context into the evaluation process, filling roles based on past experience with facility types and nursing styles, as well as considering candidates’ family and community needs.
4 Retention efforts are key to a thriving health system and mitigate financial risk.
Transparent communication is key— be clear with nurses about your staffing plan and how it will adjust in times of need. Visible leadership is also critical. Among younger cohorts especially, retention starts with support and leadership, which means executives should be visible on the floor throughout different shifts and units. Health systems need to show they care, by investing in counseling support and other employee assistance. A pay bump or personal gift for COVID-19 caregivers is also something that should be considered.
5 Think creatively to prevent strain on caregivers, but have a staffing partner in place to create resources to augment your staff’s ability to deliver excellent patient care.
Consider how you can ease caregiver burden—a nurse extender program in the ICU can lessen workload by supplementing ICU nurses with less-busy staff who can help with routine tasks like position change and medication administration. Be aware of the warning signs of burnout: increasing nurse-to-patient ratios, spikes in absences, sustained overtime and consistent changes within departments.
Where you see two or more of these signs, the danger of burnout is likely, and it may be time to engage your staffing partner. Sponsored by: