Helping Mental Health Workers To Manage Stress
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners, like so many healthcare workers, struggle with job stress. But their rates of burnout are worse than nurses in other specialties.
According to the American Psychological Association, between 21% and 61% of mental health workers experience burnout. Even at the low end, that’s a significant amount of your workforce. Too many managers believe burnout is an unavoidable job hazard for healthcare workers. If you think it doesn’t need to be this way, you’re right.
Organizations who implement appropriate support have healthier and happier employees. This article will outline steps to reduce burnout and improve the well-being of your staff.
Factors That Cause Burnout in Mental Health Workers
There are unique rewards that come with being a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner – but also undeniable challenges. According to Good Therapy, mental health workers are more likely to experience burnout if they lack:
- Appropriate professional support
- Sufficient social support
- Job experience
- Confidence in their abilities
- The ability to set boundaries
These problems cannot be addressed by individual workers. All levels of management need to commit to change.
Action Plan to Improve Staff Well-Being
Mental health workers are tasked with helping patients who may not want to be helped. They must assess patients’ risks to themselves and others. They face aggression and erratic behavior. The challenges Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners face are unique in healthcare. The solutions to address these challenges need to be tailored to them, too.
Provide Professional Supports
Each hospital has its own bureaucracy, which sometimes moves slower than you would like. But within your unit, you play an important role in the well-being of your staff. Check in with them regularly. Make changes when you can. Listen and empathize when you can’t.
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners connect their patients with appropriate community resources. But are they aware of the supports available to them as employees? Massage therapy or counseling can help with stress levels. Encourage your staff to use the extended benefit coverage that is available to them.
You can also model healthy behaviors. Take your lunch break. Use your vacation days. Head home at a reasonable time. If you demonstrate the importance of self-care, your staff will follow your lead.
Provide Social Supports
Colleagues who work in mental health can relate to the stress that comes with it. Talking to each other helps. Nurses who feel they can trust and confide in their co-workers are less likely to burnout.
Schedule monthly or quarterly get-togethers with your employees. Social gatherings – for an occasion like a birthday, or simply ‘just because’ – invite team members to feel valued. Even some non-work-related chit-chat while eating cake and fruit strengthens the connections between staff.
Provide Mentorship Opportunities
New clinicians are more susceptible to burnout compared to their more experienced colleagues. For Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners, there is a steep – and stressful – learning curve when starting a new job. Check with your more experienced nurses about mentoring new hires. They can provide advice on managing everything from caseloads, to expectations, to stress.
Provide Feedback
As mentioned earlier in this article, mental health workers who lack confidence in their abilities are more likely to suffer burnout. The fear of making mistakes can feel overwhelming. An annual employee review is not enough to build their confidence and provide support. This only leaves your staff stewing in self-doubt.
Provide frequent feedback – both formal and informal – to your employees. Be specific with your constructive criticism and with your positive feedback. Use mistakes as open learning curves. Praise them for their commitment to care, learn, and grow.
Provide Clear Expectations and Manageable Workloads
Working as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner is a demanding role. Additional responsibilities creep in. Consult with your HR Department to ensure job descriptions accurately reflect the role’s current responsibilities. Everyone functions better when they know what is expected of them.
Manageable workloads are a key factor in preventing stress. This is true across all health sectors, but it’s critical in mental health. Successful treatment hinges on developing therapeutic relationships with patients – and that can’t be rushed.
Hire More Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners to Reduce Burnout
Burnout amongst your staff doesn’t need to be inevitable. Your organization can take charge of employee wellness. One way to do this is to ensure reasonable nurse-patient ratios.
Hiring extra staff costs far less than losing your current ones to stress-induced turnover. Contact Loyal Source to provide bespoke staffing solutions. We can focus on your staffing levels, so that you can focus on the well-being of your current workforce.
