Supporting Your Staff

Supporting your staff can seem difficult when you don’t know where or how to start. There are many ways organizations can provide support to their staff, and many reasons to do so as well. Providing support may be crucial in preventing burnout, frustration and/or anxiety. Those on the frontline are working long, stressful hours, and often, with no support to them. According to Mental Health America:

As a member of the Bereavement Professionals community through the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), we came across a post of someone asking what some ways are that healthcare organizations support their staff. Here is one response from a bereavement professional, sharing some things their organization does to advocate for their staff’s mental health and well-being.

1. “[Interdisciplinary Group] Conferencing begins with a bereavement segment in which our Bereavement Coordinator facilitates team members not only providing information on the death and offering insights about the anticipated grief experience, risk level and interest in formal services of the bereaved, but the team also takes the time to process and reflect on their own experiences as providers/clinicians around those deaths. There is much natural, mutual support shared amongst colleagues and gentle, simple reflection from the Bereavement Coordinator who always closes the time with a quote. The coordinator does a lovely job of holding space, and the quotes are focused on positive inspiration on life/meaning generally (not solely about grief). They often bring quotes from famous figures who have died in a timely way that also frequently acknowledges how we are connected to the people and events in our community/country/world. Our teams consistently voice appreciation for this time as one that is critical to their wellbeing and culture of our program as one that is not death or grief avoidant/denying, nor sees its staff as productive vehicles only, but humans too.
2. Code Lavender – We used to offer debriefings when requested and we utilized the Cleveland Clinic model herein. However, we found that it was difficult to arrange these within hours/days with the schedules of our bereavement staff. So now we do a mix – we have trained our managers to do debriefings AND we have our bereavement team rotate hosting a monthly drop in Code Lavender that is for staff only. No leadership attends. We feel this creates safety for staff to be able to share things both professional and personal, if they wish, and receive mutual support. The bereavement staff present often prepare some content in advance and have some guidelines in place to promote safety and engagement as this is done virtually so the maximum number of people can attend without having to be limited to room size/# of attendees per our agency policy, and windshield time/schedule challenges as much. We have had great success in this model and staff consistently attend when they need on and off. It is well utilized and receives lots of positive feedback. We feel it speaks a lot to what our department values as this is a department wide monthly offering so any hospice or palliative care staff member can attend.
3. Wellness Huddles – Our program has many workgroups (back-office, west hospice, east hospice, north hospice, leadership, inpatient pall, clinic pall, community pall, etc.) and each workgroup has its own wellness huddle, including leadership, on a weekly, optional basis. Volunteer facilitators are primarily social workers, and they blend mindfulness and other wellness practices and topics into brief 30 min offerings. Team members who attend share as they wish and leave with both tools as well as a sense of feeling heard, seen, and seeing and hearing others on their team. It has built camaraderie and reduced feelings of isolation within the smaller workgroups.
4. Mini Community Meetings – During the pandemic we recognized that our operationally focused quarterly all-staff meetings were lacking a sense of community – especially with so many fewer opportunities to have ‘water cooler conversations’. So, we created a monthly ‘Ted Talk’-like inspirational, community meeting. In this meeting staff come up with a topic related to work culture, community and wellbeing and bring it to everyone. The topic is vetted by me, and then shared in advance with all. Staff attend if they wish. We have generally more than half if not three fourths of all staff attend each time. Topics are meant to inspire and connect staff together. Many topics shared in advance encourage staff to submit pictures related to the topic in advance if they wish to. For instance, one topic was about movement and its connection to wellbeing.  Staff and leaders sent pictures in advance of the ways they find wellbeing through movement. Other topics have been around depletion and fatigue, listening, spiritual trauma, mindfulness, remembering veterans, holiday grief, grounding, and more. (Several of our bereavement staff were the first to speak and this was a great way this got rolling!)
5. Weekly “All the Good” – A by staff, for staff end of the week email newsletter to re-cap the feedback from families, leaders, and peers. It’s a public sharing of thank you’s. It also includes an extensive humor section with memes and cartoons submitted by staff that bring levity and humor to the end of the week. (Our department rarely sends any mass emails, so this is not considered clutter and is enjoyed as a staple.)
6. Meeting Closure Standard – We end almost all meetings across the department with the practice of open mic gratitude. Some teams use the “three good things” format.
7. Pet Therapy – We recently added planned office visits from our pet therapy volunteers so they could regularly visit staff! Because why not? We can’t believe we didn’t think of this sooner!  We know it’s great for patients and families, and so too is that true of our staff who experience a great deal vicariously in their work. It is a wonderful stress reliever and gift.”

In addition to Joelle’s ideas, here are some other ways to support healthcare staff. Some of these may be great for smaller organizations as they are more intimate.

• “Occasional opportunities to play -Perhaps on a Monday to get the week started, a Wednesday to provide encouragement for the rest of the week, or a Friday to end the week on a good note. There are plenty of “office-friendly” games that are great for building teamwork and trust.
• Making things- Making things might be more challenging but making paper balls and having a mini “basket paper ball” challenge could bring some fun and relaxation to the staff’s day. If someone knows any origami, that could be another fun option to making things, quick and easy.
• Art- With art, a quick game of charades or blind drawing could be options. There is no need to take a long time, just a 5-10 quick distraction could do the trick in providing support.
• Decorating cookies-Decorating cookies is very popular especially during the holiday season. This could be a great way to connect with team members and perhaps even alleviate some stress.
• Soup exchange- A soup exchange may be just what someone in the office needs. Soup is sometimes thought of as comfort food and could bring joy to someone’s day. An alternative to a soup exchange could be a potluck, that way everyone can look forward to lunch time.
• In-house wellness support ‘challenges’- Some wellness support challenges can include healthy team lunches, a minute of mindful breathing, or even a “drinking more water challenge.”  These small changes can make a big impact.
• Individual casual check-ins daily around the office- Checking in randomly with co-workers can really impact their day. You never know what others around you are going through, and just checking-in can be a reminder to them that someone cares.
• Mindful connections” -Making a mindful connection can include actively paying attention to what the other person is saying— finding a common ground, even. Following up with these conversations can help build connection and community within your organization.

These ideas were shared by Amy Kitsembel, Bereavement Coordinator, Aspirus Comfort Care and Hospice
Examples were added by Alejandra at Hope Through Healing.

Now that you have some ideas on how to start, choose the ones that work best for your team. Even the ones that seem smaller or insignificant can have a huge impact.

There are many more options not listed here to support healthcare staff. If your program has other ways they provide support, please let us know in the comments or in the contact us page. We want to continue to share these resources with others who may not be aware of all the different ways they are able to support their staff.