Healthcare Workforce Rescue Package

Solutions to support, protect, and promote the well-being of your healthcare workforce

Two years into a global pandemic, healthcare team members are in crisis. Leaders are bombarded with competing messages about how to support them and address workforce shortages. A group of experts in collaboration with the National Academy of Medicine identified the top five actions leaders should take to support team members now. These evidence-based actions can be initiated within 3 months and build a foundation for a long-term system well-being strategy.

ACTIONS

1. These are non-normal times; adjust expectations.

Give clinicians more flexibility and autonomy, for example:

  • Use crisis documentation protocols.
  • Partner with legal, compliance, and IT to identify documentation that can be paused or eliminated.
  • Adjust quality and patient experience goals.

Resources:

  1. HHS Topic Collection: COVID-19 Crisis Standards of Care Resources
  2. Penn Medicine: Clinical Practice Guideline Manual
  3. AMA: Debunking Regulatory Myths

2. Get Rid of Stupid Stuff.

Partner with clinicians to identify and remove low-value work through a rapid improvement process, for example:

  • Reduce EHR clicks for common workflows.
  • Minimize inbox notifications.
  • Eliminate unnecessary mandatory training requirements.

Resources:

  1. AMA STEPS Forward: Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff
  2. IHI: Break the Rules for Better Care
  3. AMA: Saving Time Playbook
  4. AMA: Taming the EHR Playbook
  5. AMA: Taming the EHR Webinar
  6. AMA: LISTEN-SORT-EMPOWER Toolkit
  7. AMA: De-implementation checklist
  8. Journal of General Internal Medicine (2022): The Electronic Health Record Inbox: Recommendations for Relief

3. Get radical to shore up staffing.

Get frontline teams the help they need, for example:

  • Send executives to the bedside.
  • Consider voluntary redeployment for non-clinical staff to the frontlines.
  • Create new types of shifts to fit care needs.
  • Train and upskill RNs, LPNs, and MAs.

Resources:

  1. AMA STEPS Forward: Team-Based Care
  2. SHRM: Flexible Work Options in Health Care Can Result in a Win-Win
  3. AHA: Earn While You Learn: Innovation During a Pandemic
  4. AMA: Medical Assistant Recruitment and Retention Toolkit
  5. AMA: Saving Time: Improving Team Engagement Video

4. Designate a well-being executive.

Appoint one person with operational authority to oversee and align all clinician well-being efforts, for example:

  • Appoint a system chief wellness officer.
  • Assign a senior leader on a short-term basis until long-term resources are identified.
  • Align well-being work with diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Resources:

  1. AMA STEPS Forward: Establishing a Chief Wellness Officer Position Toolkit
  2. ACP Internist: A call to action: Align well-being and antiracism strategies
  3. AMA: Establishing a Chief Wellness Officer Webinar
  4. AMA: Chief Wellness Officer Road Map Toolkit

5. EAP is not enough! Do more.

Ensure adequate mental healthcare by implementing the foundational THREE:

  • Provide quality mental health counseling.
  • Stand-up a peer-support program.
  • Offer psychological first aid training for all people leaders.

Resources:

  1. AMA STEPS Forward: Peer Support Programs for Physicians Toolkit
  2. CSTS: Psychological First Aid: How You Can Support Well-Being in Disaster Victims
  3. AMA: Stress First Aid for Health Care Professionals
  4. AMA: The Scholars of Wellness: Create Wellness Champions Webinar
  5. AMA: How to Implement a Peer Support Program During a Crisis Webinar
  6. Schwartz Center: Stress First Aid
  7. Schwartz Center: Schwartz Rounds
  8. State Physician Health Programs
DOWNLOAD RESCUE PACKAGE (PDF)

This resource was created through a collaboration of experts in supporting clinician well-being: Elisa Arespacochaga, VP Workforce and Clinical Affairs, American Hospital Association ∙ Robyn Begley, SVP and CNO, American Hospital Association and CEO, American Organization of Nursing Leadership ∙ Liz Boehm, Executive Strategist, Vocera and Learning Community Lead, CEO Coalition ∙ Heather Farley, Chief Wellness Officer, ChristianaCare; member of CHARM Chief Wellness Officer Network ∙ Corey Feist, CEO, Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation ∙ Jessica Perlo, Senior Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement ∙ Tina Shah, Principal, TNT Health Enterprises LLC ∙ Christine A. Sinsky, VP Professional Satisfaction, American Medical Association