Health care workers have higher stress levels than employees of any other industry, including the professional, business service and retail sectors. According to a CareerBuilder survey, 69% of workers reported feeling stressed and 17% reported feeling highly stressed. The high levels of daily stress faced by nurses, hospital administrators, PAs, physicians and other medical professionals, places them at an elevated risk for burnout and can be linked to several negative consequences, including:
Lower patient satisfaction and care quality
Higher medical error rates
Malpractice risk
Turnover
Alcohol/drug abuse and addiction
Common stressors
Caregiver exhaustion and burnout
Increased instances of PTSD
Fear of exposure (self and family)
Lack of control over work environment
Extended or irregular shifts
Dealing with challenging patients
Loss of sleep and family time
Specialized resources and support for hospital and healthcare organizations and employees
With this in mind, CuraLinc provides health care clients with tailored resources and flexible plan design options that prevent burnout and help employees boost their emotional fitness and wellbeing. In addition, beyond the features and resources found in the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) model for clients in all industries, CuraLinc’s programs for hospital systems and other health care employers deliver specialized support when the negative effect of stress impacts job performance and productivity.
Impaired Professional Program (IPP) This program is included in the EAP model for all hospital and health care clients and provides a single point of contact, an initial assessment within 48 hours, referrals to specialty treatment programs and doctorate-level providers who have experience working with physicians to resolve personal and work-related concerns - as well as confidential compliance reports, including compliance with any aftercare recommendations, for up to 12 months.
Workplace safety consultation Hospital and health care settings commonly experience issues that threaten workplace safety, ranging from disturbed and disruptive patients to robberies and muggings to a local crisis. CuraLinc provides expert consultation and onsite critical incident response resources to improve workplace safety and mitigate the negative effects of dangerous situations.
Internal integration CuraLinc will work with internal leaders, such as a hospital CNO, as well as key departments, such as Occupational Health, to propagate EAP messaging to employees who can benefit from counseling and work-life resources.
EAP platform Hospital and health care workers, who are typically astute EAP consumers, can chat live with licensed mental health clinicians, schedule video counseling and connect with the program through the digital behavioral health platform.
Hospital and health care client outcomes
The International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications just published a peer-reviewed study based on health and productivity outcomes of 15,794 CuraLinc EAP participants from 458 employers in the healthcare industry. The results highlight the positive impact of CuraLinc’s counseling and mental health coaching services for employees in this industry.
82% were no longer at risk for depression
74% were no longer at risk for anxiety
73% were no longer at risk for alcohol misuse
89% no longer had a productivity problem
40 hours of restored productive time per month on average after treatment
For more information, or to review the entire study, visit EAPOutcomes.com.