The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on Monday released a guide for hospitals to improve health care worker well-being, providing a process for hospitals to start making organizational-level changes that aims to improve the mental health of health care workers.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, health workers are facing “a mental health crisis” due to the “overwhelming” demands of work — the issue has resulted in health care worker shortages, worker “burnout” and injuries. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has also chimed in with plans to address violence against health care workers — an issued that experts say is contributing to health care worker struggles. At least 29 states have also moved forward with plans.
The new guide outlines six steps for hospital leaders to take, which NIOSH says was pilot-tested among six U.S. hospital systems. The steps include creating a 12-month plan to review operations to determine how they support professional well-being; building a dedicated team to support professional well-being; removing barriers to seeking care, such as intrusive mental health questions on credentialing applications; developing a suite of communication tools that help share updates with the workforce about your hospital’s journey to improve professional well-being; and integrate professional wellbeing measures into an ongoing quality improvement project.