Top 5 Actions Leaders Should Take to Support Team Members Now

With overwhelming job demands and insufficient resources, health care workers – including supply chain professionals – are likely to experience increased anxiety, depression, trauma, burnout and other mental health issues. It is critical for hospitals and health systems to address burnout from a system-wide level to better care for your team members.

These evidence-based actions can be initiated within 3 months and build a foundation for a long-term system well-being strategy:

1. These are non-normal times; adjust expectations. Give your staff more flexibility and autonomy.
2. Partner with department heads to identify and remove low-value work through a rapid improvement process.
3. Get frontline teams the help they need. Consider flexible work options.
4. Designate a well-being executive. Appoint one person with operational authority to oversee and align all staff well-being efforts.
5. EAP is not enough! Do more. Ensure adequate mental health care by implementing three foundational strategies^†.

*Action tips have been edited to serve non-clinical professional perspectives.
^†Expanded foundational strategy information can be found in the ALL IN WellBeing First for Healthcare’s Healthcare Workforce Rescue Package. Although focusing on clinicians, these action items can be used for any workforce.

Additional Resources:
WELL-BEING PLAYBOOK 2.0: A COVID-19 resource for hospital and health system leaders in two-parts: COVID-19-specific resources and a guide to walk you through well-being program development and execution.