Coach’s Playbook

Mental Health and Resilience

in the Time of COVID-19

By Kay Kendall

Another day, another headline about hospitals with available beds but insufficient staff to care for patients. Today, it is Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, which is experiencing huge spikes in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths due to COVID-19 and the surge of the Delta variant. Staff members become ill, or they transfer to other units because they’re physically and mentally worn out. Shortages in the COVID units and ICUs are critical. In the news feeds I follow on the internet, this is a recurring scenario in hospitals all over the country.

IT'S OK TO NOT BE OK

For many people, not just those who work in health care, this pandemic has become a time of heightened anxiety with an upsurge of mental health issues. The notion of needing to take care of oneself and to acknowledge that “it’s okay to not be okay” has recently been at the cultural forefront of both women’s tennis and the Olympics. However, I’ve seen the media (social and otherwise) be very critical of, and even callous to, these calls for help and understanding.

STAFF MENTAL HEALTH IS ESSENTIAL TO ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE

The Baldrige Excellence Framework (2021-2022) introduces a new concept and core value in this most recent revision. The new section addresses “resilience.” Related to agility, which is more about “pivoting” in response to an unexpected situation or set of circumstances, resilience focuses on recovery and bouncing forward. I wrote about this topic in the Summer 2021 issue of Arkansas Hospitals, but until now, in these days of staff shortages, I hadn’t really connected it with mental health and what we, as leaders, need to do to support our employees’ mental health and recovery.

As someone who has experienced anxiety attacks and depression periodically in the past, I can tell you that a critical factor to getting help is trusting your health care provider and your workplace supervisor with your information. It’s challenging, in a workplace environment, to reveal that you’re having difficulties with mental health. We fear ridicule or judgment, and it’s possible such an admission could result in negative consequences affecting your employment.

A recent business article revealed that Google pressured its employees, when reporting harassment or a toxic work environment, to avail themselves of free counseling through its Employee Assistance Program (EAP). This sounds helpful; but the company’s HR department sought to obtain the supposedly confidential records in order to fight lawsuits brought against the company in these areas. This is the antithesis of providing a safe, secure environment. As health care leaders, we must instill trust as we guard our employees’ mental health.

We provide peace of mind, so you can, too.

We’ve been addressing the legal needs of the Arkansas healthcare industry for 120 years.

• Medicare/Medicaid Reimbursement • Stark I and II & Anti-Kickback Compliance • Contracts & Business Transactions • Government Regulations • Operations & Management • Medical Device & Pharmaceutical Products Defense • Licensure Matters & Board Hearings • Employment Issues • Privileging & Peer Review • HIPAA Compliance & Training • Medical Malpractice Defense • Drug Diversion Prevention

Your Arkansas Health Law Team

EST. 1900

Rogers Little Rock wlj.com

TOM PETERS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF “PEOPLE FIRST”

One of my “gurus” is Tom Peters, whose recent book, Excellence Now: Extreme Humanism, brings the importance of “People First” as the overarching objective for anyone in management.

What strikes me as I’m re-reading his book in the light of employees and pandemic-related mental health issues: How difficult it may be for employees to admit to their managers a need for mental health support. It’s highly likely that these same managers, prepandemic, never got to know their workers as real people with real lives outside of the hospital or the office. To bounce forward, or achieve resilience, our employees’ pandemic and postpandemic mental health needs will depend on intentional relationships; this is important for leaders to consider right now. Our organizations’ resilience is dependent upon theirs.

As Arvind Govindarajan and Marco Vettori at McKinsey & Company put it, “In the longer term, businesses will learn that resilience is a capability they need to master, not an alarm button they hit after the fire has started.”

TRY THESE DAILY PRACTICES FOR LEADERS

How well did you know your employees, prior to the pandemic? What can you do now if you genuinely want to provide mental health support at this critical time?

The article, “Future Proof: Solving the ‘Adaptability Paradox’ for the Long Term,” was posted in early August by McKinsey & Company and offers daily practices designed to help leaders improve their performance in this era of constant change. These are, incidentally, great self-care practices that will enhance the mental health of all who try them. I excerpt their outline of helpful daily practices in three key areas below, with my own challenge to you:

BODY

• Sleep - Getting at least 7 hours of sleep at the same time each day. - Having a cutoff time for work/screens. • Exercise - Maintaining or increasing your weekly exercise goals. - Using a last-minute meeting (or virtual meeting) cancellation to get up and get out. • Nutrition - Modulating your daily caloric intake with your activity level.

• Meditation - Building in 2 to 3 one-minute mindful breathing breaks throughout the day. • Introspection - Considering the use of a journal to express/ process your inner thoughts. - Honing your ability to not become distracted and to disconnect from technologies. • Perspective - Expressing gratitude. - Reframing negative mindsets to some that are more helpful. • Purpose - Regularly reflecting on how your work contributions connect to the organization’s higher purpose and to your own. - Finding ways to help others in your local community. • Renewal - Blocking time for your hobbies. - Participating in activities that bring you joy and lift your spirits. • Connection - Spending quality time each day – whether in person or virtually – with at least one person who is important to you. - Performing at least one act of kindness each day.

MIND SPIRIT

(Access the complete article at McKinsey.com)

As leaders, it will be important for you to personally model these behaviors and to encourage their practice with your employees. This is truly a time for you to teach self-care: “Do as I say, and do as I do.”

Your relationship with each employee affects organizational resilience.

Where will you start?

The team at BaldrigeCoach would be glad to help guide your hospital’s quest for process improvement. As CEO and Principal of BaldrigeCoach, Kay Kendall coaches organizations on their paths to performance excellence using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria as a framework. Her team, working with health care and other organizations, has mentored 24 National Quality Award recipients. In each edition of Arkansas Hospitals, Kay offers readers quality improvement tips from her coaching playbook. Contact Kay at 972.489.3611 or Kay@Baldrige-Coach.com.