Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

46 PATIENT AND CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE How health systems are using employee feedback to bounce back from pandemic By Kelly Gooch F eedback from employees has been crucial for health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic, and organizations have used it to shape strategy, create initiatives and address workers' concerns, CEOs said. Becker's Hospital Review asked health system CEOs how they are soliciting feedback from employees and how that feedback is being used. Below are their answers: David Callender, MD. President and CEO of Memorial Hermann Health System (Houston): In March 2020, we began hosting biweekly virtual town hall meetings for all employees, where we present the latest updates about our system's capaci- ty, COVID-19 cases and volume trends, vaccine updates and other timely topics of interest. We dedicate time at each town hall to address employees' questions, which are submitted ahead of time as well as during the event. Given the unprecedent- ed challenges our employees have faced during the pandemic both personally and professionally, we felt it was important to continue hosting our annual employee engagement survey and also launched two additional surveys that collected feedback specifically around the COVID-19 vaccine and employee benefits. Each of these tools will help us ensure we are continuing to meet the needs of our employees in this ever-changing environment. In addition, employees are always invited to share their feedback through our internal communi- cations channels — including our mo- bile-friendly employee app — as well as with local leadership at their facilities. roughout the pandemic, employee feed- back has guided our internal communica- tion strategy, allowing us to truly focus on sharing information that is timely, helpful and meaningful to our workforce. Teams across our organization are constantly evaluating the feedback we receive to adjust current solutions and develop new solutions to address our employees' needs, while also thinking about how those needs will change in the future. As an example, early on in the pandemic we received feed- back from our employees — and particu- larly our leaders — who were concerned about stress levels and burnout among our workforce. A project team was developed to create Well Together, an initiative that proactively shares physical, financial and emotional health resources — from urgent help to long-term assistance — with our employees to help them navigate our cur- rent environment. Well Together continues to evolve and expand as the needs of our workforce change with a focus on resilience to help employees successfully navigate the next — and hopefully final — phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alan Kaplan, MD. CEO of UW Health (Madison, Wis.): e most important way we ensure two-way communication is through regular, oen daily, team huddles and manager/leader rounding with employ- ees. is is done in person and virtually, depending on the team. e feedback we receive informs not just local operations, but regularly informs organizational operations and priorities. Understanding the need for more constant communication during the pandemic, we launched a series of two-way communica- tions channels to ensure that we have regu- lar, oen real-time employee engagement. Younger healthcare workers especially stressed by COVID-19, poll finds By Kelly Gooch T he COVID-19 pandemic has been stressful for front-line healthcare workers, particularly younger ones, a Kaiser Family Foundation/The Washington Post national poll found. Researchers surveyed 1,327 front-line healthcare work- ers Feb. 11 to March 7. Respondents represent hospitals, physician offices, outpatient clinics, home healthcare and long-term care facilities. The respondents include physi- cians and nurses, as well as nursing home managers and front desk clerks. Forty-one percent of respondents ages 18-29 were working in a hospital. Four survey findings: 1. Most respondents (62 percent) said worry or stress re- lated to the pandemic has had a negative effect on their mental health. 2. Among respondents ages 18-29, 75 percent said wor- ry or stress related to COVID-19 negatively affected their mental health, and 71 percent of respondents in their 30s said the same. This compares to 40 percent among healthcare workers ages 65 and older. 3. About 70 percent of respondents ages 18-29 and about 60 percent of those in their 30s said they feel "burned out" by work. This compares to less than 50 percent of those ages 50 and older. 4. Even with worry or stress related to the pandem- ic, 76 percent of healthcare workers in the survey said they feel "hopeful" when going to work now; 67 percent said they feel "optimistic"; and 63 percent said they feel "motivated." n

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