The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has now seen a staggering 27.4 million people infected, while almost 480,000 people, in the U.S., alone, have died. While it has been an unprecedented and difficult year for people all over the world, there has been a profound impact on healthcare professionals as well.
The U.S. hospital system, prior to vaccination implementation, had been housing more infected than ever before and the recent surge in cases certainly did not help either. In fact, to kick off the year, on Saturday, January 2, 2021, there was a reported 300,000 new cases reported, making for the highest single-day spike since 160,000 were reported on Nov. 16, 2020.
Healthcare professionals have been on the frontlines since it all started. Some are seeing hundreds of patients in a single day, especially for those assigned to testing and vaccination sites. The pandemic has certainly taken its toll on the healthcare system.
These are scary times and, while we all may be scared, we can capitalize on a few initiatives to show how grateful we all are to our ‘COVID-19 Heroes’.
Improving Nurse Morale and Promoting Healthy Minds and Bodies
- Mental Health: It can be challenging, especially during COVID-19, for nurses to experience burnout or other emotional challenges. Hospital systems can see to it that our essential workers are offered mental health counseling and on-site support. This can be offered in a multitude of ways, including designated areas for nurses to rest and decompress.
- Staffing: Clients, standalone medical facilities and multi-hospital systems should all consider supplemental staffs, considering the nursing shortage that was realized at the forefront of the pandemic, but also in helping prevent or slow future outbreaks as well.
- Safety: All nurses should be functioning in a safe environment. There should be no concern when it comes to making them comfortable as well. Trust between the healthcare professionals and the clients is key. Great communication ensures optimal patient care.
- Training: It could be beneficial to introduce cognitive therapy and best practices in both resiliency training and mindfulness exercises for nurses. To promote engagement, programs like scholarships can be introduced to encourage passing the courses. Training nurses across multiple different fields is also a suggested method as it will help fill the void for possible future pandemics.
- Recognition: Employment milestones, performance initiatives and both promotions and anniversaries are a great way for employers to boost moral for nurses, but we, as patients, can also play our part in showing our appreciation for our frontline essential workers. This could include something as easy as saying ‘thank you’ or by purchasing gift cards or bulk fruit baskets for nursing departments, to name a few.
MedPro is among the top staffing companies in the country and leading healthcare providers trust us to fulfill their staffing needs. We feature a vast network of talented healthcare professionals, who are all readily deployable to combat COVID-19, distribute vaccinations and provide ideal patient care.
At MedPro, we recognize the stress the pandemic has caused for healthcare professionals. Our MedPro Experience program is intended to reward our valued frontline heroes, via personalized gifts like, tokens of appreciation, work anniversaries, spotlighting important life moments, all the while, our dedicated journey guides are there for them, every step of the way.
Learn How Partnering with MedPro Can Help Ensure You an Overall Workforce Solution
Our Managed Service Program, MedPro Custom Solutions, is built on the SalesForce™ platform and is flexible, scalable, secure and reliable. Our technology adapts to your existing processes and is customizable to meet your business needs. We can assign you qualified travel healthcare nurses, allied professionals, long-term foreign-educated nurses and an overall workforce solution. Learn more by visiting: MedPro, MedPro International, Submit a Job Order or call us at (800) 866-8108.
