Regina Temple: What Healthcare Workers Have to Endure
Healthcare workers have to deal with trauma and stress, not to mention death, in many different circumstances, and they deal with all this on a regular basis.
Regina Temple, a leading figure in American healthcare, mentions that working conditions comprise a wide range of issues and concerns. These span from efficient management processes to proper PPE to adequate number of staff.
Healthcare workers in so many places also deal with negative working conditions as they deal with patients and residents themselves.
Regina Temple gives an example of patient frustrations and discrimination as some of the issues healthcare workers have to deal with outside of other, more prevalent matters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many workers have experienced physical or verbal attacks by patients and their family members via threats, obscenities, and even violence. Unfortunately, all this in the healthcare setting is nothing new.
Researchers found that as many as 38 percent of all workers in healthcare around the world experience some form of violence. It has only compounded an already stressful environment.
According to Regina Temple, this only adds to the burnout experienced by healthcare workers.
Burnout is a severe problem that has affected thousands of workers profoundly and has become one of the major reasons they’ve been leaving, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The constant feeling of being overwhelmed causes it.
Workers who feel emotionally drained burn out. It also happens when they are unable to keep up with the demands of their jobs as well as their personal lives.
That said, burnout has many other causes and symptoms. It can be present in any job and industry, but it is particularly high in healthcare.
The nature of caregiving jobs and tasks can be unforgiving. It can take a heavy toll on staff members both emotionally and mentally.
Along with burnout, healthcare professionals may feel heavy stress and trauma. It is because they deal with sickness and death regularly. Healthcare workers want to help patients and residents — however, it can become frustrating if they feel powerless due to their stress.
A lot of healthcare workers dealing with burnout are also more susceptible and vulnerable to other mental health problems. When facing a lot of various stressors, healthcare workers may also become emotionally detached or irritable with patients and colleagues because of burnout.
On a final note, Regina Temple says that healthcare workers depend a lot on leadership and management to keep working conditions on the positive side and create a better work culture that can help stave off burnout.
Having effective leadership and support from leaders and supervisors as well as other administrative staff is key to addressing and solving employee concerns as well as preventing issues like job dissatisfaction.
Regina Temple has served in the healthcare community for over 30 years with experiences ranging from for-profit to not-for-profit organizations, unionized to non-unionized facilities and acute care settings to outpatient centers. Read similar articles on healthcare and leadership from Regina Temple by clicking here.