Vicki Hess, RN, an employee engagement expert in Owings Mills, Md., and author of "The Nurse Manager’s Guide to Hiring, Firing & Inspiring," lists three employee stressors closely identified with healthcare and what managers can do to improve each situation.
1. Life-and-death decision-making. Unlike in many other jobs, healthcare workers' decisions can literally mean the difference between the life and death for the patient. Mistakes are more apt to occur if an employee is unhappy and actively disengaged from work. Managers need to hold employees accountable to prevent these mistakes and help them find their "professional paradise" so they are happy and engaged with their work.
2. Workers in changing shifts. For clinical workers, such as nurses, shifts constantly change. Every shift may bring together a different group of people who are not used to working with each other. To function effectively as a team, each member should have good communication skills. "For a team to function well, there needs to be a high level of trust and comfort with conflict," Ms. Hess says.
3. Repetitive work. "In some healthcare jobs, the work is repetitive," Ms. Hess says. An x-ray technician, for example, recites the same script, over and over: "Hold your breath, count to five, thank you." Some people like the routine but it can drive others to distraction. Managers need to be identify burned-out employees and, when appropriate, work with them to find ways to become more engaged in their work.
Learn more about Vicki Hess.
1. Life-and-death decision-making. Unlike in many other jobs, healthcare workers' decisions can literally mean the difference between the life and death for the patient. Mistakes are more apt to occur if an employee is unhappy and actively disengaged from work. Managers need to hold employees accountable to prevent these mistakes and help them find their "professional paradise" so they are happy and engaged with their work.
2. Workers in changing shifts. For clinical workers, such as nurses, shifts constantly change. Every shift may bring together a different group of people who are not used to working with each other. To function effectively as a team, each member should have good communication skills. "For a team to function well, there needs to be a high level of trust and comfort with conflict," Ms. Hess says.
3. Repetitive work. "In some healthcare jobs, the work is repetitive," Ms. Hess says. An x-ray technician, for example, recites the same script, over and over: "Hold your breath, count to five, thank you." Some people like the routine but it can drive others to distraction. Managers need to be identify burned-out employees and, when appropriate, work with them to find ways to become more engaged in their work.
Learn more about Vicki Hess.