Healthcare employees have the highest stress levels and complaint rates of any industry, a recent CareerBuilder survey found.
Sixty-nine percent of healthcare respondents said they feel stressed in their current jobs, with 17 percent describing themselves as highly stressed, according to the survey findings. The survey polled 3,211 workers from various industries, including healthcare. Professional and business service employees and retail workers were close behind healthcare workers, with 64 percent and 63 percent reporting feeling stressed, respectively, according to the findings.
More than half of healthcare workers said their workloads increased through the past year, with 25 percent of people planning to change jobs in 2014.
"Stress is part of the environment in many healthcare settings, but high levels sustained over a long-period of time can be a major detriment to employee health and ultimately stand in their way of providing quality care to patients," Jason Lovelace, president of CareerBuilder Healthcare, said in the survey results.
To combat employee burnout, Lovelace suggests healthcare leaders provide staff with resources and support they need to perform at their best. For example, the survey recommends employers hire more staff, work with current employees to adjust their schedules to create a more manageable workload and reassess paid time off policies to enable employees to take time off when they need to relax and get away.
With burnout linked to higher rates of healthcare-associated infections, it is essential that hospitals address the problem. Some organizations, like Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and North Hawaii Community Hospital in Waimea, offer "Code Lavender," a holistic care rapid response to clinicians in need, FierceHealthcare previously reported. Within 30 minutes of hearing the code, a team of holistic nurses arrive to give Reiki, massages, healthy snacks, water and a lavender armband to remind the doctor or nurse to take it easy the rest of the day. Spiritual support and counseling are also available.
To learn more:
- here are the survey findings