Five Tips for Health Care Administrators to Reduce Staff Burnout and Increase Retention Rate

lilnursewriter

Nurses are leaving their current workplace to find employment elsewhere, even considering other occupations.

Here are five ways to promote staff retention and overall satisfaction.

1- Ask frontline staff for advice before making decisions¹

To reduce frustration among frontline staff and reduce unnecessary waste of resources, please ask for advice from your frontline staff before implementing any decisions that would affect their job even just a little bit. Sometimes that little thing may make or break their day. A well-designed space, product, and policy give frontline staff confidence in the ability of the organization’s leadership.

From years of nursing experience, the most frustrating things are not the family members or aggressive or confused patients; the most frustrating thing is coming to work and discovering a new policy or equipment that is not user-friendly and makes staff’s work more complex and time-consuming.

A few examples that I have encountered in past years include 1) new product, like medication cups or isolation carts, that is poorly designed or difficult to use; nurses can only improvise to find an alternate solution, which makes the product useless and a waste of money sitting in storage forever. 2) A workspace that is so big but poorly designed. For example, a huge washroom in a nursing home with a door that is not wide enough to have a mechanical lift and staff member pass through at the same time; brings up frustration that either staff or patients on the mechanical lift may bump into the door frame or wall because of a poorly designed space.

Countless situations when frontline staff wonder “what on earth were they thinking when making these decisions, and not talking to real experts but rather making decisions based on theory and people working a desk job.” Hence do your staff a favor, and ask for their opinion. This not only makes them feel respected but truly makes their lives easier at work.

2- A mentorship program that provides new staff with a sense of belonging at work²

For new graduate nurses, 18% of them will change their job or even professions within the first year of graduation, and this is because of the nature of the job and the pressures associated. However, a better orientation system to help new staff build relationships with the workplace and co-workers supports new staffs’ confidence in transitioning to a new work environment.

For example, creating a mentorship or Buddy system allows staff to have someone to talk to as peer support rather than asking them to talk to their managers whom they rarely see or do not feel related to in a challenging situation.

Anyone at your workplace with a passion for connecting with people can be a mentor. A mentorship program will not only combine networking with learning and growth, but also allows the learning experiences to be more people-centric.

3- Throw a staff appreciation party like you mean it³

Staff parties are great because people like to connect, network, and have fun at work. However, if you really want your frontline staff in your health organization to feel appreciated as part of the team, then prepare to throw a party that they can truly enjoy and sense that management has put thought into how to make us happy at work. This includes the timing, the location, the content, etc. of the event that would be accommodating for people working frontline.

I recently attended a staff appreciation party that was held for staff working in a nursing home; it involved a dunk tank and required people to dress up in their Summer outfits. Most frontline staff like nurses and nursing aides were not able to attend due to the busy work on the unit as there was no extra staff to provide relief for a staff member to enjoy the party. In addition, this party involved staff members getting wet, and nobody would want to continue to work on the unit if their hair or undergarment and socks are all wet. Hence, you hear in the hallway how managers and administrators really think this is a fun event while staff members are running around on the unit feeling exhausted.

Hence, a word of advice is to do your research for your target audience before throwing your staff an appreciation party because you truly want them to feel appreciated, don’t you?

4- Money is not cliché, and people care about it⁴

According to an article from the Journal of Clinical Nursing, staff perceptions of fair pay and recognition from supervisors increase their sense of accomplishment and buffer the negative impacts of physical and emotional exhaustion at work.

If you know how hard your staff work at the frontline in healthcare, then you should realize staff is not there simply for the pay. Although there is truth in that statement, it also reveals how underserving you think about your staff.

Better pay means a better life for the staff and their families, and everyone I encounter cares a lot about the quality of life outside of work. Hence, how much you pay to appreciate your staff means a lot. If not, increase the wages and at least provide better health care benefits because it sends the message that you truly believe health is important. How well you treat your staff will be known by others, including your customers, partners, stakeholders, etc. Hence when you treat your staff well with financial benefits, good words will be spread, and there will be people lining up wanting to join your organization.

5- Team building activities matter among different departments and different professions

When people feel at ease asking for help and sharing opinions among different team members, problems are solved faster, and there is trust in the workplace, especially when challenges occur. Most importantly, innovation happens when people are willing to share openly about workplace challenges and willing to come up with ideas to solve problems together instead of thinking, “it’s not my problem” or “it’s not my place to say anything,” or “I’m not able to make any changes.”

In addition, when thinking of being innovative, better team works and trust between the teammates make implementing any new initiatives easier.

Are you seeing burnout among your employees?

If so, what methods have you utilized, and which ones have worked for you?

References/Resources

¹The role of service design in healthcare

²Mentoring at Work: Reduce Turnover and Increase Engagement

³14 Appreciation Ideas for Nurses and Medical Staff

⁴5 Better Motivators Than Raises for Improving Employee Retention

Reference: AMA journal of ethics, Teamwork in Healthcare: maximizing collective intelligence via inclusive collaboration and open communication

Burnout among direct-care workers in nursing homes: Influences of organisational, workplace, interpersonal and personal characteristics

Five Tips for Health Care Administrators to Reduce Staff Burnout and Increase Retention Rate

1- Ask frontline staff for advice before making decisions¹

2- A mentorship program that provides new staff with a sense of belonging at work²

3- Throw a staff appreciation party like you mean it³

4- Money is not cliché, and people care about it⁴

5- Team building activities matter among different departments and different professions

About lilnursewriter

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More Like This

Five Tips for Health Care Administrators to Reduce Staff Burnout and Increase Retention Rate

1- Ask frontline staff for advice before making decisions1

2- A mentorship program that provides new staff with a sense of belonging at work2

3- Throw a staff appreciation party like you mean it3

4- Money is not cliché, and people care about it4

5- Team building activities matter among different departments and different professions

About lilnursewriter

Share on other sites

More Like This

1- Ask frontline staff for advice before making decisions¹

2- A mentorship program that provides new staff with a sense of belonging at work²

3- Throw a staff appreciation party like you mean it³

4- Money is not cliché, and people care about it⁴