Leveraging Technology to Reduce Burnout and Improve Staff Experience
Burnout is among the biggest issues plaguing the healthcare industry. It’s the primary cause of rampant understaffing in healthcare facilities, and it’s led to a massive increase in mental health problems among healthcare workers. Although burnout is not new, it’s a growing problem proven to cause harm to both the individual and those with whom they interact and care for. Advanced technology is stepping up as a remedy, offering relief from administrative burden, increased safety, and more.
What causes burnout in healthcare?
According to a 2019 NAM report, burnout affects 54% of nurses and physicians — and that percentage has only increased since the pandemic. The high-stress nature of healthcare provides the perfect breeding ground for burnout. Nurses and physicians must constantly adapt in the face of everchanging circumstances … and the stakes are quite literally life and death.
Staffing shortages in hospitals also contribute to the stress, as most healthcare professionals are overworked. In fact, many healthcare professionals carry a workload consistent with one performed by a small team of nurses. This leads to physical and mental exhaustion, which, left unchecked, gives way to burnout.
As if that were not enough, many healthcare facilities must contend with patient or visitor violence.
Each of these factors can be exacerbated by organizational or administrative issues. A lack of support from administrators can create or worsen these situations. So what can be done about it?
How can technology reduce burnout?
Technology implemented in hospitals and other healthcare facilities can support healthcare staff and reduce burnout by streamlining diagnosis and treatment planning, improving accessibility, and enhancing patient and healthcare worker safety.
Advanced technology can improve the efficiency and capacity of healthcare workflows, reducing administrative burden and freeing up resources to focus on more urgent patient care needs. Technology also can improve communication between staff members, which enriches collaboration, minimizes interpersonal conflict, and reduces stress. Finally, technology can be used to improve security. While there’s no way to eliminate violence completely, these measures can mitigate risk and offer a sense of safety to staff, thereby reducing stress levels among staff members.
What specific solutions can help?
To minimize miscommunication, teams should adopt an advanced communications systems strategy. Many facilities rely on disparate systems with little to no integration. Connecting these systems, and the information therein, creates a single source of truth for all stakeholders and streamlines communication and collaboration. Smartboards can be used in place of whiteboards to share information quickly, for example. The smartboards provide a platform where important patient and healthcare information is aggregated, ensuring every worker can access and update necessary patient information.
Advanced communications systems also augment traditional alert systems to reduce alarm fatigue and minimize stress to both workers and patients. Filtering alerts so they are only sent to relevant staff members is more efficient and less stressful.
Weapons-screening systems can be used to diminish the risk of violence. Combined with other security measures — including systems like real-time location services (RTLS) — can provide a feeling of safety to the staff that may be otherwise lacking.
Automation reduces administrative burden. Manual or repetitive tasks are the perfect candidates for automation. And that automation doesn’t have to be strictly digital. Healthcare robots, for instance, are designed to handle tasks like delivery, guidance, and disinfection. Utilizing these tools saves time and energy, reduces the stress of a long to-do list, and cuts down on excessive walking.
Working in healthcare is one of the most stressful jobs a person can take. According to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, we owe it to healthcare workers to make a change. Technology provides us with viable ways to ease both the physical and mental burden on workers.