It’s important we recognize the impact COVID has had on our staff and the damage it has done. Our staff is experiencing levels of dissatisfaction and disconnection at levels we have never seen.
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It’s important we recognize the impact COVID has had on our staff and the damage it has done. Our staff is experiencing levels of dissatisfaction and disconnection at levels we have never seen.Â
Our pre-COVID lives as long-term care professionals were hard enough. In the Northeast, we suffered with chronic staff shortages for licensed nurses and nursing assistants. The margin for error on regulatory side was getting progressively smaller while the oversight was becoming more punitive. Staff were working more hours than they wanted and when they weren’t working, they were always connected.
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed us all to limits we never thought existed. The stress of managing an infection the world had never seen was complicated by the ever-changing regulations. Every decision was a first-in-a-lifetime career decision, and each of those decisions required a new policy and subsequent all-staff training.
In spring 2021, I began the process of reflection on my own experience and realized how much damage the pandemic inflicted on our staff. When I started opening up about my own feelings, I heard perspectives from others. Some seemed to be handling it well; others were not.
As a company, we made it a priority to give people time off when they needed it, no questions asked. I am proud of the way staff support one another so their friends and co-workers could actually take a break. Yet, the underlying issue is our staff can never truly take a break when they are always connected.
I was part of the problem. I don’t get to my e-mail during the day and as a result, I spend a few hours most nights on my computer responding. Staff feel obligated to answer my e-mails, no matter how routine.
To break down this idea we’re “on” all the time, I put parameters in place on communication and connectivity. If people could routinely disconnect, stress levels and burnout would drop, while improving the energy and creativity we lost. I established our normal business hours as 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., where all routine communications should take place, unless it is urgent.
I started using delayed delivery on all off-hours e-mails. That simple change reduced my own inbound off-hours e-mail by about 30%. When I rolled this program out to our management staff, my off-hours e-mail plummeted to almost none. I now have more time to concentrate on the important issues, knowing the routine will be there tomorrow. Management staff have reported similar reductions and less stress when away from work.
The little things we do to support staff go a long way to create an environment where people excel. Establishing boundaries so your staff can rest is the least we can do.
Matt Salmon is CEO of SALMON Health and Retirement in Westborough.
