Keeping your healthcare staff happy

The COVID -19 stress on healthcare workers

Studies have shown that people who are working at the frontlines of this pandemic show increased levels of anxiety, stress and depression. Healthcare workers are living with the daily stress of getting infected, and worse, infecting their loved ones. As hospital beds become scarcer,  nurses suffer from  increased workloads and  fear of what is yet to come. They have to balance taking care of their patients and taking care of themselves and their families. This takes a massive toll on their mental health. And as there is no clear end in sight to the spread of this virus, we must start looking for sustainable solutions.

High workloads in the healthcare industry

The circumstances we are currently experiencing are extraordinary. No one was prepared for a healthcare crisis of this scale. But even before the outbreak of COVID-19, there were high levels of stress and burn-out among nurses. These nurses were under  constant pressure to deliver better healthcare for  lower cost. There was also  growing demand for healthcare because of an ageing population combined with an inadequate supply of healthcare workers. This results in high workloads, which lead to increased employee turnover, making it even harder to satisfy  demand for healthcare.

Sustainable solution to improve the work-life balance

Researchers have therefore called to improve  healthcare workers’ working lives. It hass become nearly  impossible for healthcare workers to sustain a healthy work-life balance, as they have to manage irregular shifts, processing the traumas of their job and spending enough time with their families. This even leads to higher divorce rates for people working in the healthcare industry.

It is important to look for sustainable solutions in order to improve healthcare workers’ mental health. One  way to improve healthcare workers’ work-life balance is by introducing self-rostering. Self-rostering enables nurses to work together to create  schedules that are more aligned with their needs. A planner oversees the process and makes sure all  shifts are assigned according to pre-defined rules. As a result, everyone will be happier with their shifts, which  leads to decreased absenteeism. Also, enabling nurses to pick their own shifts will increase employee engagement, as everyone gets a say in the final roster. Studies have shown that higher levels of employee engagement  are associated with lower rates of patient mortality..

So, implementing self-rostering will keep your healthcare workers and even your patients happy. Do you want to start with self-rostering? Contact us!