If you want to boosting morale for your hospital staff -- from your caregivers, nurses, doctors to the rest of your medical staff -- here's a list of ideas to help increase team morale.  Healthcare staff and hospital employees can face extremely stressful situations on a regular basis. They continually risk their lives to keep us and our loved ones safe. The greatest example being how they are handling COVID currently. More demands on healthcare workers due to the pandemic are only increasing their need for boosting morale and mental health support.

Here are some ways you can keep your hospital staff in high spirits throughout their shifts.  

How do you Improve Hospital Staff Morale?

On any given day, hospital workers (caregivers, nurses, doctors to the rest of your medical staff) must deal with patients during times of crisis, worry, anxiety, grief, and panic. While performing the duties of their jobs, they're subjected to some of the hardest emotions.

This high-stress environment comes from day-to-day interactions with people who may not be in the best mood when they're at the hospital. Hospital workers and medical staff can get the brunt of a patients' anger or fear when a stressful situation goes from bad to worse.

At the end of the day, that stress takes a toll on healthcare workers.

‍Related: Dealing with Stress at Work: 5 Biggest Causes and Solutions

Here are some ideas for boosting morale within healthcare industry:

1. Offer Mental Wellness PTO Days

As healthcare professionals, hospital workers (caregivers, nurses, doctors to the rest of your medical staff) understand the importance of keeping on top of their personal wellness goals. And being subjected to a constant stream of illness and germs can also be problematic, not only for your physical health, but it also takes a toll on your mental health and wellness.

So it's doubly important that healthcare workers are given an opportunity to see to their own wellness needs.

‍Being able to take time off for their own personal doctors' appointments can be a big benefit for hospital workers.

Give your hospital employees a designated number of days or half-days off specifically for wellness appointments. This saves employees from having to use vacation time, or from trying to squeeze in a lunch-time appointment.

By declaring that employee health and wellness is a priority, hospitals can better serve their workers, and ultimately, their patients.

2. Incentivize Mandatory Training

Healthcare workers are always going through some kind of mandatory training. Whether it's a new protocol for patient procedures, or another new system to learn.  Rather than making these trainings a chore, try to offer something enticing. Your employees have to be at these trainings one way or another, so it's the perfect opportunity to focus on building morale.

Related: 5 Workplace Morale Boosters for 24-Hour Hospital Employees

Consider offering a raffle prize, little gift bags, or even chair massage during the training. The incentive you choose doesn't have to be extravagant or expensive to have a big impact. Since everyone has to attend these trainings, if you can make them about buy-in, rather than just another boring meeting, you'll see a shift in employee morale.

3. Pay Attention to Break Rooms

All too often, employee break rooms can become the default depository for broken, unwanted chairs or tables. That hardly makes for a relaxing environment.

Get rid of the supply closet feeling with occasional fresh flowers and snacks. Splurge on nice comfortable places to sit, make sure all the appliances work, and try to use lamps rather than harsh overhead florescent lights. Keep your hospital employees stocked with tea and coffee for their all-hours shifts. And by all means, stop using the staff room as a place to stash broken furniture, old computers or other unwanted garbage.

BONUS: Offer your Medical Staff (caregivers, nurses, doctors and all other hospital staff) an EAP

Offering your healthcare employees an EAP with virtual wellness services is a great way to make sure they receive the care they need, while they're taking care of everyone else. Having mental health support can make a huge difference in boosting morale in hospital staff. Not only will medical staff have an outlet for their stress, and a professional to talk to when they need it, they'll feel taken care of and provided for. Read on for a few reasons why medical staff is especially in need of an EAP:

 
• Emotional stress – Working in healthcare often means experiencing difficult or tragic situations. Patients are experiencing a hard time and may take it out on medical workers. They might experience violent or aggressive patients, depressed patients, terminal patients, and so much more. There's also the risk of developing PTSD from fighting coronavirus or another crisis. That's why having a therapist to speak to can be so helpful. Counseling to process these experiences can make a huge difference in healthcare employees experience of traumatic situations.
 
• Feeling disempowered – For caregivers like nurses, medical staff may not always feel empowered by management when tough decisions need to be made. This can be frustrating and stressful. That's where EAPs come in, with support for management teams to help them better communicate with staff, leadership coaching.
 
• Feeling overworked and underpaid—Forty percent of healthcare employees reported poor salary as an issue at their jobs, according to a survey on CareerBuilder. Forty percent also felt challenged by work overload at their jobs. Plus, when limited to only nurses, that number jumps up to 48 percent. That creates a frustrating situation for staff, feeling overworked and underpaid. EAPs can help address these issues by working with staff to explore their sentiments. Many EAPs can also provide financial planning assistance, helping to relieve worry and stress overpay.
 
• Physical demands – Often healthcare staff work 12-hour shifts (or more!). Often they don't get the rejuvenating breaks they might need and spend those entire long shifts on their feel. This can take a serious toll on the body. That's why an EAP that provides physical wellness support too is so great! Find an EAP for your healthcare workers that provides virtual yoga, massage instruction and more, to help healthcare workers feel better than ever.

Want to start taking better care of your healthcare team? Give back to those who give so much! Start providing confidential certified counselors, virtual mindfulness and physical wellness services, and so much more. Give us a call, and try us risk free today: 800-556-2950

Disclaimer

By participating in/reading the service/website/blog/email series on this website, you acknowledge that this is a personal website/blog and is for informational purposes and should not be seen as mental health care advice. You should consult with a licensed professional before you rely on this website/blog’s information. All things written on this website should not be seen as therapy treatment and should not take the place of therapy or any other health care or mental health advice. Always seek the advice of a mental health care professional or physician. The content on this blog is not meant to and does not substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.