Nearly 1 in 5 healthcare workers have quit their jobs during the pandemic, with nursing being hit hardest. As evidenced in the Morning Consult Study, it is validated that nurses are burnt out and suffering from emotional and physical fatigue, and it is only getting worse. But we don’t need statistics to prove that. We are in the third year of a pandemic, and we all feel it. Quality, personalized communication between nursing staff and administration has NEVER been as important as it is now. We need to lean on innovative technologies that connect caregivers to patients and processes to administration. This is not only to provide visibility to their needs but also to streamline and automate their administrative tasks, freeing them up for focused clinical efforts. Make their lives easier and a kinder way to get their work done.
The Drivers
The McKinsey Study states that the strongest drivers of intent for nurses to leave their jobs include insufficient staffing levels, seeking higher pay, not feeling listened to or supported at work, and the emotional toll of the job. Surely these reasons are a vicious cycle that all loop together as nurses face a lack of processes and efficiencies. They are resulting in too many hours, frustration, and the desire for higher compensation. But what if the hospital considered looking at the problem holistically and seeing how they could work smarter and not harder? This solution is nothing new; smart healthcare systems leverage technology to bridge the gap between back-office systems. The technology needs to not only be efficient but friendly, innovative, and effective. Simple button clicks that launch workflow, automatically complete tasks, and provide real-time visibility are the solution. My message here: make it easy for them!
The Solution
If you aren’t convinced that technology will help, a study by Becker’s Hospital Review looked at seven ways to immediately reduce nursing strain. One of the top reasons was to streamline documentation for nurses. This translates into eliminating manual tasks, displaying patient preferences and concerns in real-time, and offering an easy way to resolve them, all in one system. Hospitals should assess how much time nurses are spending on charting and reporting information about their patients. Automating unnecessary documentation and improving existing processes through software is critical to protecting nurses' time and reducing stress.
Executives should begin by focusing on healthcare worker communication that creates meaningful conversations and demonstrates leaders are listening and responsive. The key to uncovering issues or barriers to care starts with keeping healthcare workers informed by establishing and maintaining engagement and team camaraderie.
The Technology
A simple but powerful solution that leaders rely on to drive communication that improves staff engagement is Leadership Rounding, also known as Staff Engagement. As an industry standard for years, modern technology has improved the process with workflow automation. The CLARIFIRE HEALTH® Leadership Rounding application supports leaders' efforts to communicate with their team while illustrating they care and are responding to team members’ individual needs and concerns. The CLARIFIRE HEALTH application empowers executives with the flexibility to easily collect critical observations and input from staff and put it into immediate action.
Leadership Rounding is a crucial step in the right direction for easing the burden on nurses. Executives can leverage their same investment in rounding technology if their solution automates more than just patient rounding. With CLARIFIRE HEALTH, you take static data from the EMR and use the software to create actionable data and launch workflow for any service recovery or patient touchpoint. This allows organizations and leaders to benefit from at-a-glance visibility of trends with real-time, configurable dashboards and detailed reports. Nurses are relieved to know that issues are not being tracked by post-its and manual phone calls. An accountability model eases their worries and drives positive change.
In addition, because the data is stored in a smart and friendly way, nurses are not struggling to get up to speed with patient updates. They have immediate access to patient round responses from previous days and previous hospital visits. This provides a stress-free way to monitor patient communications, providing an overall better patient experience. The CLARIFIRE HEALTH Rounding mobile app, backed by a robust process automation application, delivers transparent and innovative communication centered on employee feedback with any barriers, or perceived barriers, to care. Nurse feedback seamlessly intersecting with patient satisfaction and hospital reporting requirements is a reality with this better approach.
About CLARIFIRE®
CLARIFIRE HEALTH replaces outdated manual processes for patient and employee rounding, but it doesn't stop there. Our workflow automation provides process improvement across departments for multiple quality-improvement and patient-related solutions in one user-friendly application. The Clarifire team consists of process experts who guide you through implementation. Our team focuses on service and delivering a cost-efficient model to meet your unique organizational needs. Get results. Better approach, better software, BRIGHTER AUTOMATION®.
Lauren Walling | VP of Business Development
Lauren Walling is a graduate of Emory University with a degree in Industrial Psychology, as well as an MBA from the John Sykes School of Business from The University of Tampa. She is a member of the Healthcare Business Women's Association, National Association of Professional Women, and the Morton Plant Corporate Membership and Planters Society. Lauren works with large Healthcare Systems implementing Patient Experience and Outcome Solutions that streamline processes, increase patient experience and improve quality and safety.
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