In the world of healthcare, where the lines between day and night often blur, the concept of work-life balance can seem like a distant dream. But as a mental health expert and a leader in healthcare workforce solutions, I understand the impact that a lack of balance can have on both healthcare professionals and the patients they serve. Addressing this issue is imperative and it starts with an awareness of the impact mental health has on our workforce.
Working in healthcare can be demanding, with long hours, emotional stress, and critical situations that can overwhelm even the most resilient individuals. This constant pressure can lead to burnout, anxiety, depression, and other issues that gradually chip away at the well-being of staff. It affects the entire healthcare system. When professionals in healthcare are overwhelmed, the quality of patient care can decline, increasing the likeliness of medical errors. This information may come as a surprise to many, but ideas and strategies for preventing and addressing it within a workforce culture are still evolving.
Mental health has been more broadly researched and studied since the pandemic began to leave its mark on healthcare workers. Across the entire workforce, the economic burden of mental and medical health care costs and lost productivity exceeds $220 billion annually in the United States; these numbers do not include data on attrition. In the 2024 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, published by NSI Nursing Solutions, data from 400 hospitals across 36 states for the calendar year 2023 showed that the average cost of turnover for a staff RN is $56,300. The report goes on to state that the RN turnover cost increased by 7.5% from the prior year and the average hospital lost $4.82m in 2023.
Strategies for Sustainable Change
Investments in awareness and accessibility are important to ensure available resources are used. Roughly 19 percent of surveyed nurses who indicated they had not sought mental-health support in the past 12 months cited lack of knowledge, lack of resources, fear of losing their job, or concern about colleagues finding out as reasons for not seeking support. (Based on data from Pulse on the Nation’s Nurses Survey Series: Mental Health and Wellness Survey 4.
So, what can healthcare organizations do to avoid the consequences of work-life-conflict? Here are some strategies to consider:
Question the Status Quo: The most effective strategy meetings allow for creative freedom. Early in my career, I sat in a room filled with colleagues where we were asked to brainstorm the wildest and craziest ideas, we could think of to orchestrate change and drive growth within our organization. Ideas like bringing in puppies for a weekly play session to help reduce work stress were on the list that day. Also, the concept of what is now known as DocuSign was presented, which was considered crazy at the time, considering people sat around fax machines and stood in line at a FedEx machine every day. Consider using a similar exercise in your meetings to explore out of the box work-life-balance ideas and go from there.
Mental Health Support: Provide accessible mental health resources and foster a culture where seeking help is encouraged and supported. A radical approach to mental health support is requiring mandatory mental health days. By putting policies in place which require core staff to take a certain number of mental health days off each year, staff witness and experience a strong commitment from their employer to prioritize their mental health wellbeing.
Wellness Initiatives: Invest in wellness programs that address both physical and mental health. Local gym memberships (or discounts) offering a variety of activities like yoga, aerobic classes, and possibly spa services are another way to support wellness. Consider incentives around visits to the gym and other activities for quarterly cash payouts or other prizes. In a report published by the National Safety Council – Prioritizing employee mental health from June 2022 it is reported that when employer invest in mental health support and intervention, an estimated return on investment of $4 per dollar invested.
Flexible Scheduling: A key strategy for promoting work-life balance is offering flexible scheduling. Healthcare workers can more easily manage personal commitments and reduce stress when they have more control over their work hours. A great place to begin is utilizing Local InSourced Flex Pools, that allows for flexibility without compromising patient care. Flex pools, or Float pools, ensure there is a qualified professional available to step in when core staff are away. When this system is in place it makes it less stressful for staff to take time off for their mental health because they know the coverage will be there. Other benefits include reducing burnout, tapping into the gig economy, and career development.
The Way Forward
Finding the right balance between work and life is imperative in today’s post COVID healthcare workplace. As a professional with expertise in mental health and healthcare workforce solutions, I strongly believe that if work-life conflict is not addressed properly, detrimental results in the mental health of our workforce and patient care will continue. Challenging the status quo can lead to innovative solutions that create a better work environment. The four strategies covered here are just the beginning of what will lead to a better balanced and sustainable approach. A systemic approach to better patient care must include everyone to be successful and the workforce is a big part of it.