MANAGING STRESS IN THE
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Shana Glover
Kaplan University MANAGING STRESS IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY In today’s current healthcare workplace, overstressed employees are and will continue to be a major factor in the effectiveness of the healthcare team in all aspects. There are new factors contributing to the stress placed on employees in healthcare every day. With the current outbreak of infectious diseases, such as the Ebola virus, the threat to personal health is increasing, and the risk is even greater for those in healthcare. There are many factors that contribute and many steps that can be taken to minimize stress. It is well known that stress is an unavoidable part of life, but preventative measures can …show more content…
It is important to know that stress can lead to various types of physical ailments such as back and neck pain, headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, sleepiness, sleep problems, digestive problems, increased heart rate, skin rashes, sweating, blurred vision and even frequent crying. It can also lead to multiple psychological issues, including feelings of not being able to cope, irritability, mood swings, disturbed eating patterns, trouble concentrating, lack of motivation, and a lower libido. Signs and symptoms that employees may be suffering from stress may include rushing around, taking on too much at once, over-working, lacks time for family and friends, a sudden change in behavior, fatigue, trouble concentrating, conflict with coworkers, crying, loss of sense of humor, irritability, and other such signs (Jones JW, 1988). These are all things that may be noted in over-stressed employees, and these are signs that a healthcare business may be at risk for a decrease in the level of patient care, leading to mistakes, injury, and even patient death. When employees are not at their best, the treatment that they will provide is compromised. This reflects negatively on a medical practice and can lead to malpractice lawsuits, decrease in productivity, loss of patient loyalty, or possible injury to a patient(s) (Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment …show more content…
These can range from risk of disease contraction, job insecurity, labor shortage leading to heavier workloads, employee conflict, and patient mortality, among other various stressors. To help identify these, employees should be questioned as to what is contributing the most stress for them while at work. Once identified, proper steps can be taken to minimize as many of these as possible. A poll taken in 31 European countries, including nearly 600 workers, concerning workplace stress showed the following: 44% of the Europeans questioned said that workplace stress was common and, of that 44%, the most likely group to say that stress is common in the workplace were health or care employees, employees between the ages of 35-54 and employees of companies with 50 or more employees (Steemson,
HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Shana Glover
Kaplan University MANAGING STRESS IN THE HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY In today’s current healthcare workplace, overstressed employees are and will continue to be a major factor in the effectiveness of the healthcare team in all aspects. There are new factors contributing to the stress placed on employees in healthcare every day. With the current outbreak of infectious diseases, such as the Ebola virus, the threat to personal health is increasing, and the risk is even greater for those in healthcare. There are many factors that contribute and many steps that can be taken to minimize stress. It is well known that stress is an unavoidable part of life, but preventative measures can …show more content…
It is important to know that stress can lead to various types of physical ailments such as back and neck pain, headaches, muscle tension, fatigue, sleepiness, sleep problems, digestive problems, increased heart rate, skin rashes, sweating, blurred vision and even frequent crying. It can also lead to multiple psychological issues, including feelings of not being able to cope, irritability, mood swings, disturbed eating patterns, trouble concentrating, lack of motivation, and a lower libido. Signs and symptoms that employees may be suffering from stress may include rushing around, taking on too much at once, over-working, lacks time for family and friends, a sudden change in behavior, fatigue, trouble concentrating, conflict with coworkers, crying, loss of sense of humor, irritability, and other such signs (Jones JW, 1988). These are all things that may be noted in over-stressed employees, and these are signs that a healthcare business may be at risk for a decrease in the level of patient care, leading to mistakes, injury, and even patient death. When employees are not at their best, the treatment that they will provide is compromised. This reflects negatively on a medical practice and can lead to malpractice lawsuits, decrease in productivity, loss of patient loyalty, or possible injury to a patient(s) (Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment …show more content…
These can range from risk of disease contraction, job insecurity, labor shortage leading to heavier workloads, employee conflict, and patient mortality, among other various stressors. To help identify these, employees should be questioned as to what is contributing the most stress for them while at work. Once identified, proper steps can be taken to minimize as many of these as possible. A poll taken in 31 European countries, including nearly 600 workers, concerning workplace stress showed the following: 44% of the Europeans questioned said that workplace stress was common and, of that 44%, the most likely group to say that stress is common in the workplace were health or care employees, employees between the ages of 35-54 and employees of companies with 50 or more employees (Steemson,