As a healthcare manager, you’re aware of the various unique challenges your healthcare team faces daily. Healthcare employees work very long hours, juggle multiple life-saving tasks and responsibilities, and deal with grief every day, and all these can take a toll on their mental and physical health in the workplace.
With rising mental health challenges in the country — the National Institutes of Health (NIH) states that 57.8 million adults live with some form of mental illness — healthcare organizations must ensure that their employees are staying mentally and physically well. This is especially vital since healthcare workers had a higher prevalence of mental illness (specifically, depression and anxiety), chronic illnesses, and cancer compared to other workers, according to a 2024 report.
Championing mental and physical health is important to promote employees’ wellbeing, reduce stress and burnout levels, as well as maintain a safe working environment that prioritizes patient-centered care.
This article outlines strategies that healthcare managers can use to support the physical and mental well-being of healthcare employees in the workplace.
Tips for promoting physical and mental health at work
Incorporate physical and mental wellness strategies into the company culture
To ensure that policies and programs are adhered to and sustained, a culture of mental and physical wellness must be implemented at all levels of the organization. Employees must feel safe enough to share their
Healthcare managers must be properly trained to spot signs of stress, burnout, and mental and physical health challenges in employees to help employees improve their overall health and well-being. Doing so can also greatly benefit the organization, as healthy employees are more productive and efficient at work and are less likely to be absent or late for work.
Aside from training managers, healthcare organizations must set up policies and programs that encourage employees to remain physically active via incentives and prizes, such as promoting cycling or walking to work. It’s also a good idea to create informative internal communications campaigns that promote the importance and benefits of living a physically active life.
Celebrate employee wins big and small
To address emotional exhaustion, stress, and other mental health challenges in employees, managers need to foster employees’ sense of achievement by celebrating big and small wins at work.
Recognize employees’ work anniversaries, goals achieved, and projects accomplished in a timely, specific, and consistent manner. Good rewards can include monetary bonuses, paid lunches or dinners, gift cards, and even paid days off. You can also create a shout-out Slack or Teams channel to encourage people to commend their colleagues for being helpful, reliable, and kind.
Ensure sufficient staffing
When units are short-staffed, employees are forced to pick up the slack. Their already challenging workload will be heavier, making their work experience even more stressful. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), understaffing, excessive workloads, and long working hours are mental health risks that are rampant in workplaces around the world.
One effective way to ensure that employees’ mental and physical health doesn’t suffer is to provide them with sufficient support on the floor through appropriate staffing resources. Properly staffed units are helpful to both the workers, who will get to take much-needed breaks they need, and the patients, who will receive optimal care and support.
Healthcare organizations can benefit from reliable and affordable healthcare staffing agencies such as Oculus Health. We deliver full-service healthcare staffing solutions that enable organizations to focus on what’s important — building a robust, skilled, and goal-driven healthcare team that provides exceptional patient care. Aside from our extensive screening and selection processes, our clients and employees enjoy 24/7 support, helping them navigate their scheduling and communication needs.
Learn more about our staffing solutions here.
