Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1462389
31 PATIENT & CAREGIVER EXPERIENCE what the employees are doing. Recognition is an important step and should be tailored to each employee. When employees are proud to come to work, getting through those challenging days is much easier. Stephern Allison. Chief Human Resources Officer at Maimonides Medical Center (New York City): Healthcare workers are focused on taking care of others and oen neglect themselves in the process. Self-care is a foreign concept, especially for those on the front lines. e pandemic highlighted the problem of burnout among the health- care workforce that existed for quite some time but did not receive much attention until now. Acknowledging burnout as a public health crisis is the first step in mitigating the loss of team members. is acknowledgment is a stepwise approach; it requires a cultural change that begins with policymakers and transcends to organization leaders. Developing and implementing programs aimed at educating the workforce and providing resources for self-care, in addition to pro- viding real-time access to support, are critical elements in reducing burnout. is would lead to a reduction in burnout and subsequently improve morale and retention within the industry. Additionally, having these programs in place will not only promote retention but lend to overall recruitment efforts. Jim Keller, MD. CMO at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital (Park Ridge, Ill.): e change needs to be made both at the health- care system and society level. We need to help our healthcare workers rediscover the meaning of their work while feeling appreciated in a safe environment. Darcie Robran-Marquez, MD. Vice President of Population Health and CMO at Presbyterian Health Plan (Albuquerque, N.M.): Prioritizing and promoting a culture that focuses on self-care, resources and support for the healthcare workforce is critical. We know that healthcare workers are less likely to access the care they need despite feeling the constant effects of burnout and high stress levels. As healthcare leaders, we need to put programs in place that acknowledge the pressure and stress that our teams experience every day while providing practical support to help the workforce thrive. n 5 ways to improve the workplace for nurses By Georgina Gonzalez T he "Great Resignation" brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is being felt across health systems, with one McKinsey survey finding that as many as 32 percent of nurses are looking to leave their jobs. Burnout, low pay and lack of support were cited in the survey as among the reasons for their responses. Gretchen Berlin, RN, a senior partner at McKinsey, discussed five strategies to improve working conditions for nurses in a report published Jan. 20. 1. Increase recognition regarding the importance of the role of nurses. 2. Increase the financial incentive for the job in regards to loan forgiveness and repayment, as well as involvement of nonprofits and health systems to shoulder educational costs. 3. Health leaders should get on the hospi- tal floor to connect with nurses and learn which problems can be solved to ease their workload. 4. Introduce more workplace flexibility through regional float pools and team mod- els that allow nurses to shift between depart- ments depending on their circumstances. 5. Consider using telemedicine as a model to allow nurses to work in a hybrid setting. n AMA president: Violence against healthcare workers must end By Kelly Gooch G erald Harmon, MD, president of the American Medical Association, is calling for an end to threats and intimidation against physicians and other healthcare workers. In an op-ed published Feb. 3, Dr. Harmon wrote about the uptick in in- timidation, threats and attacks toward people in the medical field during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as an increase in racially and ethnically motivated violence. Neither issue is new, but the prevalence of them, especially in recent years, is especially concerning, he said. Healthcare organizations across the U.S. are asking patients to show kindness and patience to staff. State legislators are also introducing bills to protect healthcare staff. In his op-ed, Dr. Harmon cited a global study from 2020, published in BMJ Open, that showed healthcare workers were about 50 percent more likely than other community members to have been harassed, bullied or hurt because of the pandemic. He also cited survey results published in JAMA Internal Medicine in January 2021 showing that at least a quarter of U.S. physicians have reported being attacked or harassed on social media about their stances on topics ranging from vaccines to religion. Additionally, he cited a neo-Nazi protest in January against anti-racist physicians at Boston-based Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Violence has no place in the medical profession, and so we as indi- viduals and as leaders in organized medicine have a responsibility to do whatever we can to prevent it from occurring inside and outside of the workplace," said Dr. Harmon. "This is important for the health and well-being of everyone working in medicine today, but particularly for those who have been historically marginalized." He encouraged hospitals and health systems to work together to share best practices for effective violence prevention strategies inside and outside of healthcare settings. n