Current Approaches to Addressing Burnout and Moral Injury: Experiences from Community Health Centers. “...employee voice is crucial in addressing burnout, contrasting with wellness approaches that focus solely on individual staff members. Involving staff in decision-making and addressing systemic issues are viewed by participants as essential strategies for mitigating burnout in CHCs.”
Drivers of Burnout and Moral Injury. Societal level: Devaluation of populations served expressed as underfunding of CHCs; Underfunding means staff shortages; Moral injury when they perceive they can’t meet community needs and help make societal improvements. General Health System Level: High workload exacerbated by externally driven administrative burdens related to pre-authorization, billing, quality reporting, and EHRs. Organizational Level Relational distance between leadership and staff: Loss of trust that mission and quality matter more than money; Concern that participation has declined; Concern that survey data may not be used to make changes
Strategies to Mitigate Burnout and Moral Injury. Mission Reinforcements: Mission-focused orientation and training programs; Trauma-informed workplace Collective (in addition to individual) recognition programs; Career advancement programs for low-wage staff. Operational Improvements: 4-day work week; 30-minute appointments; Flexible roles among support staff. Relational Improvements: Culture of patients and staff as “relatives”; Leadership decentralization with new regional leads; Leadership style that empowers staff; Institutional mechanisms to reinforce staff voice; Measurement accompanied by feedback on how surveys led to change
New publication by Patricia Pittman and Samantha Meeker on strategies used by Community Health Centers (CHCs) to address burnout and moral injury among healthcare providers. Read the full article: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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