Yes, Mental Health Problems Can Also Affect Healthcare Professionals

Recent research that analyzed 29 studies with a sample size of 22,380 found that 21 papers reported the prevalence of depression, 23 reported the prevalence of anxiety, and 9 studies reported the prevalence of stress. Given the turn of events since the coronavirus outbreak, it is not surprising that anxiety and depression rates have increased across the country.

Even if you’re inoculated against news, guidelines regarding vaccinations and mask-wearing have consciously or unconsciously altered our lives forever. Another study found that between April and July 2021, 29% of adults out of the 55,046 people surveyed experienced symptoms of anxiety and depression.

It is a fact that our lives have changed for good. In fact, even those who have continued living almost normally and continued to work as usual have been impacted profoundly because they’re the ones on the frontline.

While the rest experienced stress because of curbs on freedom and bad news, these frontline workers were at the sharp end of the virus. They’ve been through experiences that they may not yet fully know or acknowledge. Unfortunately, not much has been done to manage their mental or physical health.

Facing stressful situations day in and day out can seriously damage your morale and behavior. Stakeholders need to boost staff morale because it reflects in their attitude and approach when people are happy. When they feel good, they make patients feel good, and this friendliness reflects the positive reviews that patients leave after treatment.

Disengaged medical staff can have a devastating impact on the bottom line, causing productivity loss and increasing costs for new hires.

In the past we have covered how stress and anxiety have forced healthcare workers to consider early retirement or have quit altogether. For instance, in Oklahoma, 37.5% of adults reported various mental issues. It would be interesting to note how much medical staff is among those struggling.

Richard Branson was right when he asked employers to train people well enough to leave and treat them well so that they don’t want to leave. Your employees are people – they have lives, families, and problems. Every staff member is valuable and needs support, and this is especially important in a health organization because a good team plays a significant role in managing reputation.

Positive employee morale is often underrated, but it plays a massive role in the health organization’s success. Disengaged employees do not affect revenue outcome (as much as 20%) and make the institution vulnerable to poaching from competitors.

A recent report found that around 33% of people struggle with mental health in Oklahoma, New Mexico, Oregon, Alabama, Nevada, Kentucky, and West Virginia. This means that they will need more support and help. But how do we find your staff need help before something negative happens? Here are a few questions that can help you chart a strategy to manage employee wellbeing:

• Do you have an organizational chart to understand medical staff sentiment?
• Do you schedule wellbeing meetings? If so, how regularly do you arrange one?
• Do you undertake happiness surveys? How often do you arrange them?
• Do you ask for suggestions from staff to improve areas that need working effectively?
• Does your staff feel included, and do they think that their opinions and ideas are respected?
• Are your teams trained to listen?
• Do you take exit surveys?
• And do you act upon these surveys?
• Is there a disconnect between what management does and how employees perceive these efforts?
• Is your staff up to date on company issues?
• Do you encourage staff to create the best patient experience?
• When was the last time you undertook a positive and thoughtful team-building exercise?

We all know that it costs far less to retain good employees than hire new staff because it helps boost employee confidence in the organization. But if you need to find new talent, or retain valuable employees, then do call us!