Jun 10, 2021

How Technology Can Help Cure Staff Burnout: Why I left Healthcare

I am a casualty of healthcare burnout.

It’s no secret that burnout and attrition run rampant within the healthcare industry, but even before COVID-19, few could imagine the level of stress doctors and nurses are dealing with daily.

COVID-19 has shown a light onto a system in need of repair. Here are a few factors to consider:

  • Bureaucratic hurdles and mountains of paperwork. As our well-intentioned system grows increasingly complex with each new regulation, the end result is longer hours for the patient care teams.
  • Wasted hours trying to find coverage for upcoming shifts. The effort takes away time from the floor, away from patients. Healthcare managers are bogged down with administration, valuable time that would otherwise be spent leading.
  • Manual work that shouldn’t be. Daily tasks, audits, workflows, and trainings are often manually assigned and completed. But unfortunately, with antiquated paper system, some tasks, audits, and workflows either don’t get done or get partially completed due to missing items.

No wonder many are burning the candle at both ends, trying to do more with less and working to exhaustion–while still feeling guilty for leaving our patients.

All this creates unnecessary work, which not only increases absenteeism and turnover but heightens risks for patients and potentially decreases patient satisfaction.

I finally left, after 30 years, when I saw an opportunity to improve the lives of more fellow practitioners.

WorkJam provides healthcare organizations with the tools they need to meet the demands of the emerging workforce. I joined WorkJam because I saw that it provides the means to fundamentally change the process by placing people first and applying technology to make work easier.

Through a diverse customer base that includes Davita, Health Sciences North, and DentalCorp, I saw WorkJam helping fellow healthcare professionals from day 1 through a single platform that can develop, direct, and retain employees across the organization, from nurses to maintenance to the café workers.

WorkJam delivers greater employee engagement, work/life balance, and patient coverage through our exclusive combination of secure messaging, crowd-staffing tools, micro-training, shift-aware task management, and targeted communication to keep everyone on track and up-to-date. What’s more, WorkJam sits on top of leading WFM platforms like UKG and BlueYonder that helps you net a quick go-live and an average 410% ROI, per a recent Forrester Report.

Targeted Communications. Information is sent using targeted distribution lists, allowing the right communication to go to the right employees.

Secure messaging. Communicate with military-grade encryption within the app — no more rogue places for shift swaps or messaging.

Micro-Training. Managers can now quickly see which training and certifications each employee has completed, allowing them to make sure that they get the right people to work while remaining compliant and avoiding overtime.

Crowd-staffing. Qualified employees are now able to apply for open shifts or directly swap with colleagues. Lower agency expenses as employees are empowered to pick shifts across the department or across the network with ease. They can even get paid ahead of payday with ExpressPay.

Digitized Task Management and Audits. Take task management and audits off the clipboard and onto the tablet. WorkJam can assign tasks to the right people and ensure daily, weekly, and monthly tasks are done. Location audits can support and confirm that everything is done right.

All this translates into less administrative work for all with more coverage and time for your patients, your team, and yourself while remaining fully compliant with all the critical standards healthcare requires.

Click here to learn how a Frontline Digital Workplace can transform your health system.

About the author:

Holly Harron

Solution Engineer

Holly spent 30 years in the healthcare industry before joining WorkJam. Prior to becoming a Solution Engineer, she worked bedside in Newborn and Pediatric ICUs, flew on a medical transport team, worked as a team supervisor, and as a performance improvement coordinator, helping doctors improve their overall quality of care.

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