Staff morale at a hospital and/or medical office continues to grow in importance throughout the healthcare world. This comes as no surprise to many nursing managers, when considering the current nursing shortage leading to longer shifts. An overworked medical team naturally finds it more difficult to stay engaged, risking a potential decline in patient care.
So here’s an overview of why the happiness of your medical staff greatly affects the efficiency of your operations. Managers need to be proactive to ensure burnout and poor morale cause no problems at your organization. Use these insights to build a program to foster happiness and positivity among the entire team.
The Benefits of a Happy Healthcare Staff
In addition to more efficient operations and improved patient care, a happy medical staff offers employers other significant benefits. As an example, implementing an employee wellness program focusing on both mental and physical wellbeing helps reduce healthcare costs. Notably, the National Institute of Mental Health reports depression results in over $250 billion in losses each year. In a related fashion, it leads to more absenteeism than any other physical ailment.
Considering the high levels of stress in the healthcare industry, a proactive approach to improving staff happiness becomes critical. The NIMH data provides an understanding of how the morale of your nurses and medical professionals affects hospital operations. Keeping everyone happy, engaged, and inspired helps your organization both save money and provide better care.
Building a Hospital Culture That Fosters Happiness
Any hospital or medical office needs to focus on forging a culture that fosters happiness. In addition to the cost savings detailed above, this kind of culture also provides other meaningful advantages. Nurses and other medical professionals help each other more, building a sense of collaboration and teamwork. This simple fact contributes to the improvements in operational efficiency and patient care.
Part of this effort also includes building strong relationships between managers and nurses and other medical professionals. Additionally, provide as much flexibility as possible when scheduling shifts. Nurse morale definitely improves when they have the ability to balance their personal and professional lives.
Empathy remains critical in healthcare. While it typically relates to patient care, your leadership team must take a similar approach with its staff. It’s the best way to foster a culture to improve the happiness and mental wellbeing of your entire team.
If you need to add nursing talent, connect with the experts at CHN Health Care Group. As one of the top medical staffing agencies in New England, we provide the talented medical professionals your organization needs. Schedule a time with us to discuss your current hiring plans.