Thomas Tonkin, Ph.D.

Preventing Staff Burnout: Strategies for Happier Staff

and Healthier Patients

Thank You to All of Our Attendees!

Dr. Tom Tonkin Principal, Change Management and Transformation Thought Leadership & Advisory Services Dr. Tonkin is an executive in Professional Services and Software Sales arena and has over 25 years of business and technology experience. Prior to joining CSOD, Dr. Tonkin was the CEO and Co-Founder of the Sales Conservatory where he specialized in helping sales leaders that have revenue generation responsibility between $5M and $1B and are looking for a trusted advisor to guide them to materially increase revenue . He spent 19 years of his career at Oracle Corporation as the Senior Director of the Sales Performance Group in Oracle’s Global Sales Academy. Dr. Tonkin is also a speaker at leadership and business conferences where he also presents throughout the year.

Guess What?

Yes, another story

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Stress – Definition1 Stress - /stres/nouna state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances.

"he's obviously under a lot of stress”synonyms: strain, pressure, (nervous) tension, worry, anxiety, trouble, difficulty; informal hassle"he's under a lot of stress"

Is it fair to say that the Healthcare industry is under a lot of stress?

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“Workplace stress in nursing: a literature review”• A comprehensive study by Andrew McVicar

BSc PhD• Spans all stress related research in nursing

from 1985 – 2003.

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Lets be real - What is burnout? – Really.• Stress - Defined from a ‘demand perception’

point of view1

• Perception of demands placed on them• Perception of their ability to meet those demands• It is the mismatch that induces stress

Financial Stress

Emotional Stress

Physical Stress

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Three types of stress• eu·stress - /yo͞oˈstres/ (noun)2

• moderate or normal psychological stress interpreted as being beneficial for the experiencer

• dis·tress - /dəˈstres/(noun)3

• extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain. "to his distress he saw that she was trembling” synonyms: anguish, suffering, pain, agony, torment, heartache, heartbreak.

• Severe distress (Burnout)

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What does it look like?1

Eustress Distress Severe Distress (i.e. Burnout)

Psychological • Fear• Excitement

• Unease• Sadness• Depression

• Emotional Exhaustion

• Disengagement• Decreased Personal

AccomplishmentPhysiological • Increased

Blood Pressure

• Increased heart rate

• Increased metabolic rate

• Persistent elevated blood pressure

• Indigestion• Weight gain

or Loss

• Clinical Hypertension

• Coronary Heart disease

• Gastric disorders

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Stress Causes• Workload/inadequate/staff cover/time

pressure• Relationship with other clinical staff• Leadership and management style/poor

locus of control/poor group cohesion/lack of adequate supervisory support

• Coping with emotional needs of patients and their families/ poor patient diagnosis/death and dying

• Shift working• Lack of reward

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Current Issues• There is disagreement as to the magnitude of their impact.• These vary from institution to institution

• Interventions are targeted at some of these sources, however, their effectiveness is likely to be limited, at least in the short to medium term.• These are lagging indicators, not leading indicators, treat them as

such• Individuals must be supported better, but this is hindered

by lack of understanding of how sources of stress vary between different practice areas, lack of predictive power of assessment tools, and a lack of understanding of how personal and workplace factors interact.

• Number one solution is prevetnion

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Okay, what should WE do?•Cross-training… Critical path staff...Workload/inadequate/staff

cover/time pressure

•Celebrate events, even during shiftsRelationship with other clinical staff

•New performance management trend discussion•CEO walks around the floor (night shift)•#AskMary example … => follow-up is key

Leadership and management style/poor locus of control/poor group cohesion/lack

of adequate supervisory support

•Dressed up staff, taking pictures etc…•Pet therapy as an example

Coping with emotional needs of patients and their families/ poor

patient diagnosis/death and dying

•The financial rewards hurts performance…Shift working•Does not need to be money…Lack of reward

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Summary• Healthcare Staff is under continuous distress

which is the definition of severe distress or burnout.

• Stress can be good or bad (or REALLY bad). Its is a very real phenomenon.

• To prevent stress, we must understand the entire continuum (eustress, distress, severe distress).

• There are six identified causes for stress in healthcare institutions.

Thank You All for Attending and Listening

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References