As the cold and flu season approaches, it’s time to be proactive over everyone’s health. One of the biggest issues in the healthcare system is that doctors and clinicians are being overworked, leading to negative physical and mental health effects. It’s important to remember that healthcare workers are people too, so if they are not feeling well, how can their patients get better? There needs to be a greater balance for employees, so they can have opportunities to manage their health in order to provide the highest level of care to others.
This is especially important as the winter months come around the corner. It’s no secret that cold, flu, COVID-19 and RSV cases typically surge during these months. Studies show that between 35-65 million Americans were infected with the flu this past season. Not only does this mean that people were feeling ill, but that hospitals were full of people battling the illness. This has a chain reaction, because if more people are entering hospitals and other healthcare organizations to get treatment, the chances of it spreading to frontline workers increases. The healthcare system needs to be proactive about prioritizing the health of both its patients and employees.
“Just because doctors and nurses are taking care of people for a living does not mean they have to put their own health on the backburner. Their health is just as important, and could be a deciding factor in the type of care they provide to their patients. If a doctor is not feeling well, how can they possibly take care of anyone else? Having a balance between their physical and mental health, and the health of their patients is necessary for healing on both sides,” says DoorSpace CEO Sarah M. Worthy.
Creating more sustainable workloads for employees is one of the biggest ways to take care of their health. Frontline workers often are not just focusing on patient care, instead they are spending hours completing paperwork and other managerial tasks. Stripping their workload from these tasks gives them more time to take care of patients and themselves.
Perhaps, reevaluating long shifts and investing more in staffing, will take care of this problem as well. There is no need for one person to work more than 12 hours in one shift. They deserve rest, physically and mentally. When it comes to the cold and flu season, this is needed more than ever. If employees do not have the time to relax and take care of themselves when they get sick, then it puts other peoples’ health at risk. Balance is the key on the frontlines, so that everyone can work their way to feeling better.
“This means that healthcare organizations need to support employee health at every level. Providing sustainable workloads, schedules and benefits is the key to creating that balance. Doctors and nurses might feel like they can’t prioritize their health so it’s up to leaders to do that for them,” Worthy says.
Healthcare leaders have to understand that health overall is the goal. When the cold and flu season gets worse, it’s important to realize how it affects their employees, not just the patients. Maybe the answer is providing more sick days off, or investing in retention tools so when someone calls in sick they are covered. Investing in technology to help take some of the work off their to-do lists is another way to give them more time back in their days. These small changes can have a big impact as the season draws near.
The healthcare system hands in the balance. Thinking about how the industry can adapt to the cold and flu season now, will help mitigate potential problems in the future. Employees need a balance in their lives for their physical and mental well-being. If they can’t take care of themselves, how will they take care of others?
