Employee wellness is of paramount importance — after all, our team members at Transylvania Regional Hospital are supporting patients’ health and helping them heal, so they should also have plenty of opportunities to take good care of themselves. Burnout is all too common in healthcare because, typically, very caring individuals choose to work in the medical and behavioral health arenas. Often, healthcare workers experience something referred to as “compassion fatigue.”
This means that a person who cares deeply for patients and families, each and every day, can become depleted emotionally and physically. This isn’t ideal or healthy for team members or their patients, and is why we’re deeply committed to investing in team members’ emotional and physical health.
One way we do this is through HCA Employee Wellness programs. HCA Healthcare offers confidential counseling free of charge, 24/7, through Optum for our team members. Not only are they entitled to eight free counseling sessions per topic for themselves (examples include burnout, anxiety, and stress management), each member of their household is also eligible for this benefit.
For team members participating in our medical benefit plan, HCA Healthcare offers the telemedicine service, Doctor on Demand, which allows them to connect with board-certified physicians and licensed psychologists 24/7 at no additional cost. Additionally, Optum Wellbeing hosts a series of 15-minute “Optum Wellbeing Wednesdays” sessions that again, are free, and examine a diverse range of topics. Team members can also access recorded sessions if they’re unable to attend live ones.
TRH has a robust Employee Safety Program, the goal of which is to support a safe, secure workplace while reducing job-related injuries and illnesses. We’re required to carefully analyze causes of employee injuries while being proactive about prevention by removing workplace hazards and educating employees on workplace safety and security.
Another initiative that addresses workplace safety concerns is our Workplace Violence Prevention Plan and Committee. Sadly, healthcare workers experience four to five times more workplace violence than those working in other industries, and the trend continues to move upward. This includes instances of verbal abuse and physical assaults.
The TRH Workplace Violence Committee (WVC) focuses on prevention, mindful preparation, and protecting our team members in every way possible. We intentionally created a multidisciplinary team for the committee, which includes frontline staff, security, and leadership. They educate team members about how to report incidents, carefully examine incidents that occur to enhance prevention efforts, work to ensure rapid response to violence instances, and provide support to staff after an event occurs. We also provide our staff with Duress Badges, which can be activated and responded to when an employee feels they are in an unsafe situation.
Our team members are offered no-cost resources that support their safety as well, including escorts, 24/7 access to our Wellness Lounge, support through Optum, and confidential assistance with practical needs like childcare and behavioral health.
We also conduct an annual Culture of Safety Survey that helps employees feel heard, respected, and empowered as they contribute their thoughts about what creates a healthy workplace, from prevention and incident reporting to effective team collaboration and resource allocation. Survey data gives leaders insight into the frontline experience, enriches employee wellness, and fuels change.
Our Physician Engagement Survey is another vital tool that strengthens experiences for physicians and by extension, patient care. If our physicians feel valued, heard, and supported, it makes sense that they will deliver even better care. In fact, 95% of our physicians reported feeling physically safe at TRH. Survey feedback presents us with opportunities for growth that:
- Allow us to understand what resources and operational support physicians need
- Help us understand what motivates our physicians in their work
- Point us to what we can do to support improved patient care
- Provide us with important ways we can support collaboration among clinical teams
- Assist us with improving workplace safety
- Facilitate smooth transitions during times of organizational change
- Create a more accommodating environment within which physicians can practice
We never lose focus on being the hometown hospital that you can put your faith and trust in. Our efforts to make TRH a safe workplace that offers our caregivers and team members attention and care as well, serve to strengthen the care we are grateful to provide to our community.
Michele Pilon, MS, BSN, RN, NE-BC, is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Nursing Officer of Transylvania Regional Hospital. Her diverse professional experience includes service as a bedside nurse and over a decade as a leader at healthcare institutions in Virginia, Florida, and North Carolina. Ms. Pilon earned a Bachelor’s in Nursing from Ohio’s University of Akron and a Masters in Health Services Administration from the University of St. Francis in Illinois; she is also a Board-Certified Nursing Executive.