The issues facing nurses today are something very dear to the heart of Linda Robinson, the VP of Clinical Excellence at MDM Healthcare. Robinson reflected on the concepts of resilience and well-being as they relate to the current struggle hospital care teams are facing. “I have been a nurse for 35 years, and I was at the bedside for at least 28 of those years. I used to think that when the Emergency Department was falling apart and they needed help and they would say, Hey Linda, can you pick up four hours? We're getting killed here, We're diverting to another hospital. I'd say to myself, I can do this, another four hours can’t hurt me,” she said. “Overworked nurses often don't realize that they are putting their own mental health and health at risk,” she continued.
Nursing leaders continue to discuss the concepts of resilience and well-being as they relate to their profession. “Resilience meant to me that I had strength, perseverance, and resolve. It was a never give up kind of word,” stated Robinson, and she emphasized that there has been a shift in the healthcare community towards focusing on the well-being of nurses. Robinson explains the impact of the pandemic in 2020 resulted in the current situation many hospitals are facing today, nursing burnout which has led to a nursing shortage. “The inexperienced nurses at the beginning of COVID hit the ground running, and they're probably still running, wondering, is this really what I signed up for? If you look at the definition of resilience, It's the capacity of a person to maintain their core purpose and integrity in the face of dramatically changed circumstances. The question is how do we move that inexperienced workforce forward? We can not leave nurses behind on an island or hung out dry. They can't be in that room with a full code all alone. They need a team behind them. That team is the hospital, nursing leadership, and management,” she said. The focus now has to be on nurses' well-being.
Robinson believes that the way to positively impact nurses is through leadership, mentorship, and readily available, effective resources. Technology is one resource that can dramatically improve working conditions for nurses, helping to optimize their time and enhance their ability to assist patients and work with their team. “At MDM, our experienced team is dedicated to healthcare innovation and transformation. The power of technology in healthcare settings is most impactful when incorporating clinical nurses, and bedside nurses. We know that nurses are the cornerstone of the healthcare system, and right now they're stretched thin during this unprecedented time, and we want to help support them,” Robinson said.
Journey PX, our patient engagement solution has the capability to support care delivery by leaning down clinical workflows, automating the patient education process, offloading non-clinical tasks, and offering the capability of video connect into the patient room. This reduces exposure while still maintaining that face-to-face personal contact sentiment. We can help save nurses and the healthcare team valuable time and steps during this critical period.
Sentinel Event Alert published recently by the Joint Commission outlined
Five Key Ways to Support Health Care Workers
1. Foster open and transparent communication to build trust, reduce fears, build morale, and sustain an effective workforce.
2. Remove barriers to health care workers seeking mental health services and develop systems that support institutional, as well as individual resilience.
3. Protect workers’ safety using the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) Hierarchy of Controls framework.
4. Develop a flexible workforce; evaluate the work being performed and determine if it can be performed remotely.
5. Provide clinicians and others with opportunities to collaborate, lead and innovate.
Listen to the full interview on the PX Space podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
