With caregivers dealing with significant burnout due to the pandemic and more clinicians and nurses reaching retirement age, the current shortage of healthcare workers will likely get worse before it improves. Caregivers struggle to maintain balance as they continue to face new variants and surges that fill capacity and strain the entire health system. Reports indicate significant rates of stress and exhaustion. For healthcare leaders, this crisis should serve as a call to action in examining how they help their staff curb the effects of burnout and deliver better patient care.
While the answers to questions around labor issues and emerging variants are not simple, there are opportunities for healthcare leaders to improve the work environment to support a healthy, engaged workforce.
Lack of Proper Equipment Impacts Healthcare Worker Well-Being
The circumstances of the pandemic have made an already stressful profession more challenging than ever. According to Ergotron’s report, “Caring for Healthcare Workers: How the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the well-being and vibrancy of caregivers and non-clinical staff,” which includes findings from a survey of 500 U.S. healthcare workers, 94% of respondents reported a negative impact on their physical or mental health during the pandemic. Physical effects range from feeling exhausted to dealing with more pain, such as backaches, shoulder pain or carpal tunnel. Working conditions have also taken a toll on mental health, with 29% of respondents reporting feelings of depression.
As overburdened healthcare workers face these challenges, having the right equipment is essential. The research found that lack of access to ergonomic tools contributed to workplace injuries and health problems. Nearly half of caregivers (43%) and 70% of health IT staff reported experiencing work-related injuries or health problems related to repetitive stress or poor workplace ergonomics.
Work Environment Changes That Can Make a Difference
In 2022, leaders should focus on developing an executive-level response to the physical and mental impacts of the pandemic. Until this point, some healthcare workers have felt relatively unsupported by leadership, with 61% citing that their leadership teams could do a better job in encouraging work-life balance and 43% stating there should be more support for mental health.
Making changes to the work environment can make a difference as leaders look for ways to improve staff wellness. A vast majority of workers (95%) stated that having better, more ergonomic and mobile equipment could improve their health and well-being. Further, 91% said that new equipment could improve happiness at work.
For healthcare leaders, the problem is large in scope, but making incremental changes to the work environment demonstrates movement in a positive direction.
Maximizing the Benefits of Virtual Care
As healthcare leaders look for new ways to alleviate the stresses of working through a pandemic, they must also consider the uptick in technology use. Early on in the pandemic, telehealth usage skyrocketed, and while the rate of telehealth utilization has dropped slightly, studies show that it is still being used at a higher frequency than it was pre-pandemic.
What does this mean for healthcare workers? Increased technology usage has dramatically shifted how and where they work. Many of these changes have been positive—caregivers report feeling less exposed to infection (64%), more productive (50%), and able to provide better care (44%). But this change has also moved caregivers to a more sedentary workstyle, and many (87%) are concerned about the physical strains of sitting in front of a screen for long hours.
This evolution to more virtual care requires healthcare leaders to develop long-term solutions to support caregiver well-being—whether they are using a medical cart at a patient’s bedside or providing care via telehealth from the comfort of their home. Creating comfortable, ergonomic workspaces will help drive employee well-being, ultimately allowing them to provide higher quality patient care, whether they are treating a patient in-person or virtually.
Developing a Road Map to Improve Caregiver Health and Happiness
The mental and physical impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are enduring. While there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to addressing the multitude of challenges the healthcare system faces today, incremental changes add up, and leaders should keep their focus on valuing and supporting their workforce. When caregivers feel well physically and mentally, they are better prepared to provide high-quality care. Addressing the equipment that healthcare workers use and providing resources to support their health and well-being are foundational to building a vibrant workforce.