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A creative event, held in order to address the complex issue of stress in the maternity workplace.
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Creative Workshop to address Stress and Mental Wellbeing in the
workplace (Maternity services)
Who was invited?
• Head of Midwifery• 2x Maternity Matrons (Hospital and community based)• Maternity based Healthcare assistants• Porters and theatre staff (Maternity based)• Band 6, 7 and 8 Practicing midwives• Student Midwives• Obstetricians (SHO, Registrar and consultant)Initial ‘interest’ enquiries were made via email, social media
and in person (conversational interest generated)Those who expressed early interest were given official
invites to the creative event
The invitation…
• Delivered with a cheery manor• Filled with streamers that can be seen upon opening the envelope (Meant to be fun and evoke intrigue)
And inside the envelope….
Who Came?
• 1 x Student Midwife• 5 x Band 6 Midwives
20 invites were sent out to all levelsNo response was given from either Matrons or Head of Midwifery expressing any interest or reasons for lack of
interestOther non attendees from all levels gave ‘Heavy work load’
and ‘lack of time’ as a reason for non-attendance but did offer to give input remotely or in the future where
possibleAn insight into stress in Maternity services already?
Feed back on the Invitation…
• “I received the letter and thought ‘Oh no, what have I done now?’” – (Letters received by staff tend to be of a negative nature).
• “I saw the pink sparkles inside and it brightened my day” – (The intention of the invite)
• “I was intrigued to know what the day was about, excited to attend” – Enthusiasm generated by the prospect of a creative event? (Something different!)
• “I didn’t take it very seriously as it was too extravagant, a more formal invite might have made senior management prioritize the event” – Fair point?
• “Any excuse to get out of work is a good thing! The invite made me feel special” – A reflection on organizational cultures?
The Location
• Central location with ample parking
• Pre booked private and comfortable room
• Refreshments (Knowledge Café!)
Session Agenda• 11.00 Grab a drink/food and introductions• 11.10 Innovation what is it? • 11.15 ‘Elevator’ pitch • The goal – STRESS AWARENESS• What do I want to do?• What is the USP (Unique selling point?) – why should we address this?• What is the problem?• Overall Aim?• 11.30 Discussion• 11.45 Role play• 12.00 Problem solving/mind mapping GOAL = A SOLUTION?• 12.10 Team innovation exercise (De bono’s 6 thinking hats)• 12.20 What can you bring to the project in your area?• 12.30 BE CREATIVE! – Create overall logo/paintings for your individual staff
sanctuary.• 13.00 Regroup – decide - commit – succeed – Arrange follow-up.
The Science bit….
The Reality
‘There is a solid connection between staff health and good
standards of care, so it is in everyone’s interest to make the health of NHS staff a priority,’ says Unison’s head of health
Karen Jennings (Munro, 2011).
The Stats…• Overall midwifery absences rates due to sickness have risen
recently between 2011 and 2012 to 5.20 % (Health and Social Care Information Centre).
• Conditions relating to depression, anxiety and stress are the 2nd most common type of NHS staff illness reported, secondary only to Musculoskeletal issues (NHS Health and Well-being Review, Interim Report, Boorman, 2009).
• The Department of Health has historically estimated that 91 million working days each year in the UK are lost through stress-related illness, at a cost to industry of £3700 million (Doh, 1995).
• During 2003 – 2004, claims for from severe stress and debilitating PTSD amounted to £103 million, £55 million more than was claimed 5 years previously (Hansard, 2004).
CONFIDENTIAL:Discussion
Have you or any of the midwives you know:• Recently been witness a traumatic event?• Been avoiding certain places or situations?• Lacking interest or empathy in the families using your
services?• Finding it hard to speak about events or problems?• Been showing any signs of stress exhaustion?
If so, speaking early could be the catalyst to positive change. Never underestimate the severity of the consequences of stress disorders which may develop into chronic conditions if left unaddressed.
Lets be silly….
“A little nonsense
now and
then is relished
by the
wisest men” -
How can we help ourselves?
https://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome
(CBT SKILLS)
The merging of fun and work is invigorating (Kelley et al, 2001).
In every job that must be done,There is an element of fun,
You find the fun, and… SNAP!The jobs a game! – Mary Poppins
Lets have fun!
Mind Mapping a Solution
Outcome = We need some kind of staff sanctuary
Ideas for the Staff Sanctuary
• A confidential room that can be private (Easily accessible and well known about)
• A mailbox for concerns for Occupational Health to collect weekly (enlightening them to workforce issue themes to address)
• A folder of self help/resources and information• A peaceful place/pleasant space/non clinical.• Drop in sessions to be held with champion
lead/Occupational health link.• Intranet wellbeing page• Wellbeing awareness sessions to be allocated during
protected time/study days.
An Example from NHS Wales
Albert Einstein - "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree,
it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."
What do you bring?
To do List…Lets allocate tasks and commit…
• Awareness days to organize• ? Board report to submit proposal• Links to be made with Occupational Health• Managers to be approached with service need
requirement proposal (Can this be realistically prioritized?)
• Key drivers established/costing/savings etc…• Speak to IT about online possibilities (re:
Intranet).
Artwork for our Sanctuary
• Facilitated discussion and ideas to flow..• Taking ownership of the idea through active input• Therapeutic in itself!
The Masterpieces…
Logo ideas for the Sanctuary (Created with Play-doh )
Decide - Commit – SucceedWhere is your commitment now?
Creative Workshop Feedback• Overall thoughts?- Lots of fun and something different to generate
new thinking, but should have done the creative things at the beginning to relax us all first.
• Why did you all come? – “To help you out as a friend”• How Committed are you to taking these ideas forward? – “It’s a
great idea but managers never value our wellbeing, I won’t be wasting my time I’m afraid, they couldn’t even be bothered to come.
• Would you come to a follow up session to take these ideas forward? – Yes, if managers came and committed as well.
• Best bits? – Free Lunch and Crafts!• Worst Bits – Feel deflated as we are not empowered to make a
difference at our level of management.• What can you genuinely do? – Enlighten managers to the stresses
and time pressures we face, maybe start a diary as evidence of how many hours over shift we work? – Suggest training/sanctuary time in our protected time/study days (Formulating a key driver for change)!
My overall thoughts…• Session was engaging and empowered new thinking.• Session was, at times side tracked towards a ‘midwife social catch
up’ and offload session. – This was a stress reliever in itself and perhaps an indicator of what is needed in the workplace but not permitted? As leader, I frequently had to regroup the session.
• In future sessions I will need to find ways to engage management staff in prioritizing stress management and creative thinking. - Without this, I fear that enthusiasm for change will result in only further resentment and fragmented relationships between leaders and maternity staff.
• Using Theatre in Education felt unnatural to the midwives involved and was awkward in the session – Are maternity staff creative people intrinsically?
• Lack of attendance, engagement with the creative workshop and willingness to drive change – A symptom of empathy exhaustion and stress in the workplace in itself?
Any Questions?
ReferencesBoorman S (2009), NHS Health and Well-being Review: Interim Report, Leeds, Department of Health.
Department of Health (1995) ABC of Health Promotion in the Workplace. A Resource Pack for Employees. London: Department of Health.
Hansard (2004) House of Commons: Written Answers from Mary Eagle, 27 May 2004; col.1790W. London: Stationery Office.
Kelley, T. and J. Littman: (2001), The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm (Currency & Doubleday, New York).
Munro, R (2011) Sick day scrutiny: as the NHS seeks to slash its 3 billion [pounds sterling] annual staff absence bill, nurses are facing tougher checks on leave taken; Nursing standard [0029-6570] Munro, Robert yr: 2011 vol:25 iss:18 pg:24