Controlling the Anxieties of Healthcare Professionals during COVID-19

Healthcare professionals are perhaps the most highly impacted group of  professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their already high-stress work environments are heightened with anxieties relating to exceptionally high volumes of patients needing critical care and concerns with lack of proficient PPE.  Increased public awareness has shone the daily stresses that healthcare workers endure and the strain on mental stability, stamina, and well being of essential healthcare workers. 

While the non-clinical professionals like myself empathize with these extreme circumstances, a responsibility falls to organizations to listen to their frontline employees and to give them the tools, support, and resources they need to have a shot at being successful in supporting patients as well as each other during these trying times.

It is extremely important for healthcare professionals to be heard now more than ever.  Creating an environment that fosters open communication between leaders and employees allows employees to feel a greater sense of support and that they are not “alone” in this fight. Transparency from leaders, as well as visibility, is paramount in establishing this sense of trust and connection of the organization.  Ensuring that genuine questions are asked like, “What Matters to You?”, and “What do you need?”, and “How can I support you?” help to gain the crucial trust needed to get teams through these mentally and physically trying times and to prepare for the future. 

Perhaps it’s not coincidence that May is also mental health awareness month. Organizations should take the time to determine and prioritize the needs of their employees, how best to communicate with them now and in a post-pandemic world, and, ultimately, to chart a support-focused action-oriented plan that addresses employee needs and enables improved patient experiences. 

goShadow supports teams all over the world in implementing customizable surveys that get to the core of what matters most to employees. From the thousands of responses that have been collected from care teams over the past few months, the common themes that concern frontline employees and managers are daily communications from leaders, feeling supported in the workplace by presence of leaders, and providing services that enable care teams to support their families and loved ones to keep them safe. Communication and support are themes that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The goal of goShadow’s surveys are to provide data to leaders to chart a data-driven path forward so that the next pandemic is not care team burnout. Our COVID-19 resources are free to use, and we would be happy to help you get started. No one should feel alone in this pandemic; it is our responsibility as a community to come together and support one another.  

Link for article inspiration:Understanding and Addressing Sources of Anxiety Among Health Care Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic