In these tough economic times, with nurses being asked to do more with less and caregiver burnout on the increase, how can hospitals care for their caregivers? In these times of tight health care budgets, what really is good for the bottom line?
Janice M. Zeller, professor of nursing at North Park University in Chicago, knows the answer to these questions. For years, Jan has been studying what helps nurses thrive and the potential impact thriving nurses may have on a hospital’s bottom line.
For example, after Janice discovered mindfulness meditation and realized the positive impact it had on her own life and work, she began to wonder how practicing mindfulness meditation might help nurses. She and her colleagues at Rush University Medical Center designed a study to teach the practice to nurses and test nurses’ performance before and after mindfulness meditation practice. She discovered that nurses felt less stressed, anxious, distracted, angry, and irritated in challenging situations after they had practiced mindfulness meditation than they did before practicing it. Data analysis is currently underway to discern whether they also provided better patient care.
In addition to her research, Janice provides support for nurses. She has offered both an orientation program for new nurses and ongoing support for experienced nurses. The orientation focuses on the art of nursing, on how to be a healing presence. Participants explore what it feels like to be present, what it has felt like when others were present to them. Then Janice introduces them to the theory and practice of mindfulness, to provide them with a tool to help them be more present.
For experienced nurses, Janice and a colleague offered a program called Circles of Care: six weeks of care for nurses’ hearts and souls. In the face of burnout, stress on clinical units, and clinical units being short-staffed, Jan and her colleague wanted to build more resilient practitioners. Building self-awareness, being mindful, being attentive to self and others, and developing compassion for self and others, were all elements of the six-week experiential program. The group met on alternate weeks with homework and reflection by email between sessions. Participants articulated their own values and learned how to offer care with a sense of authenticity.
What is the impact on the bottom line? Does caring for caregivers help or hurt the bottom line? Janice points out that thriving caregivers impact the bottom line positively in a number of ways. For example, Medicare has announced that it will no longer compensate for falls in the hospital, for infections, for any avoidable injury or complication. Caregivers who are more present and attentive are more likely to prevent these avoidable injuries and infections.
In these times of tight budgets, hospitals need to provide care for their caregivers. As Jan Zeller is further exploring, the impact on the bottom line may be significant.
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If you would like to learn more about caring for caregivers, consider participating in the Health Care Institute at the Spiritual Directors International annual conference on May 2:
Cultivating Compassion in your Health Care Setting, May 2, 9-5, Atlanta.
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If you enjoyed this article, see also:
Healing the nation's soul (video)
Soulful Leadership in the Healthcare Debate (video)
Soulful leadership 101: What is leadership?
For more info: Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of Soul at Work and The Soul of a Leader, works with leaders in healthcare, business, churches, government and non-profits to help them stay true to their souls. Visit her website.
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