As the pandemic continues to evolve around the world, many of us have returned to everyday life. We go to work, send the kids to school and go to restaurants and sporting events. For many of us, the pandemic has blended into the background.
Although many of us are living a new normal, things are very different in the healthcare world. Since new variants of COVID-19 continue to emerge, healthcare professionals are desperately trying to keep up. In order to provide outstanding patient care, they need to keep up with record numbers of hospitalizations. This has become harder as hospitals and other care facilities deal with staff shortages and supply chain issues.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, people regularly praised the healthcare heroes and other essential workers who continued to work while others stayed home. As time went on, many people returned to a more routine life with a semblance of normal. Through all of this, essential workers continued to feel the strain of the pandemic. Working in Employee Health and Wellness during the whole pandemic, I have seen first-hand the moral distress, PTSD, exhaustion, compassion fatigue, chronic stress symptoms, struggles with morale and burnout of healthcare workers at levels I’ve never seen or heard of before.”
Nurse in the Minnesota Health System
A study by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found up to 80 percent of healthcare workers are experiencing burnout. According to the study, frontline workers are especially exposed to increased work strain for various reasons, including:
- Working under stressful situations due to rapidly changing guidelines
- Deployment to new settings and high-risk areas
- Deficiency of technical and human resources
- Fear of transmitting COVID-19 infections to family members after work
Basically, it’s gotten so bad some hospitals have urged patients to show compassion to healthcare workers. It doesn’t have to be this way! In an interview on the The McKinsey Podcast, registered nurse Gretchen Berlin said there is a lot leaders can do to help nurses with burnout, including doubling down on the basics of leadership recognition, being on the floor with nurses to understand the simple and the complicated fixes to make their lives easier—things such as making sure supplies are there on time, and eliminating unnecessary documentation so that they can spend more time at the bedside.
While a large part of the burden of reducing burnout falls on healthcare leaders, there’s a simple act anyone can do to help nurses and other healthcare workers – write a simple thank you note!
Submit a Thank You Note
At Caresfield, performing positively is one of our core values. In February, our Caresfield Cares program will deliver handwritten thank you notes to healthcare workers around the country. We want to thank the doctors, nurses, administrative staff and other workers who are working hard to protect the public.
You can help! Please use the form below to leave a note of gratitude for healthcare providers. We will convert your note into handwritten postcards for healthcare workers throughout the U.S.
According to Caresfield CEO Ron Griffith, a small token of gratitude can go a long way, especially today.
“For many of us, life has settled in to a new normal,” Griffith said. “That’s not the case for our nation’s healthcare workers. Whether it’s the doctors and nurses on the front lines or the admin staff behind the scenes who keep facilities running smoothly, there is significant burnout throughout the healthcare industry. We’re looking forward to sharing our appreciation for these everyday heroes and invite you to join us.”
UPDATE: Caresfield wrote over 150 thank you notes through the program. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Thank you for taking part in our Caresfield Cares program. Check out our full Caresfield Cares schedule for 2022.
