employer portrait/Creating a culture of wellness for healthcare workers

Q: What are the specific health challenges faced by healthcare workers?

JD: The healthcare work environment is particularly stressful for many reasons. Front-line staff work long shifts and when they’re here they’re running flat out all the time. We also have no downtime—we operate seven days a week, 24 hours a day so there is never a chance that the workload will get lighter.

Keeping up with the amount of new knowledge that comes into the health system is another big challenge. We also have an aging workforce and are seeing increased injuries related to lifting patients. Manpower shortages are adding to the workload and stress. Then, of course, there is the constant exposure to illness and infection.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the largest group of people in healthcare is women, many of whom are mothers juggling the strains and stresses of family commitments. So there are no two ways about it: working in healthcare is a challenge. The work is heavy, complex and stressful, but it’s also rewarding.

Q: Why and how did your wellness program begin?

RL: We didn’t wake up one day and decide wellness was a priority. It’s been the culture at Trillium for as long as I can remember. We have always had a very robust health, safety and wellness team that prides itself on innovation and operational and clinical excellence. And, we are always looking for means to ensure that our staff members are involved and engaged and protected in whatever they do.

However, two years ago we consolidated all our wellness efforts by introducing the KAILO Program. The philosophy of this program is that improving wellness also improves recruitment and retention. What we have done is incorporate a number of services, including one-on-one employee counselling, fitness programs, massage therapy and coffee carts to the floors to ensure employees take a break in their work environment. We also run sessions related to health, teamwork, shift work and conflict resolution—basically anything that helps employees cope and maintain a good work/life balance.

Q: Could you provide some examples of how you have improved employee safety and wellness?

RL: There are so many different areas of focus—from technology and layout to fitness and therapy programs. We have launched a number of business process and technology initiatives designed to alleviate the workload and stress on an aging nursing population. For example, we are now using a decentralized model in our new wing, which includes multiple nursing stations per floor, remote workstations on wheels and handheld wireless devices. This cuts down a lot on nurses having to walk back and forth to get supplies.

Then there are design elements that play a key role in preventing injury and reducing strain. We have taken measures to reduce stress on employees’ backs, shoulders and knees. In our new wing, for example, all equipment—including outlets—has been configured to be at waist height, so nurses don’t have to kneel down or crawl under desks and beds. We’ve also allowed a lot of space to move beds in and out of rooms more easily. Our ergonomic specialist visits all locations to ensure that equipment, including desks and chairs, are ergonomically friendly. We also provide back-care programs, on-site fitness classes and massage therapy services.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of our approach, however, is that we take the time to listen and communicate. For example, we make a point of conducting annual healthy workplace surveys with employees to understand what works, what doesn’t and what is going on in terms of providing a healthy workplace.

In addition, every unit has its own Partnership Council. This is an employee-driven initiative that allows front-line workers to raise issues, come up with solutions and let their voices be heard. Senior team members will often take part in a walkabout to get a first-hand understanding of what is happening on the front lines.

Q: What have been the results of your wellness initiatives?

RL: The numbers speak for themselves. Standard industry turnover is 8%. We’re now at less than 5%. Vacancies are at 2% and average sick time is nine days versus an industry average of 12. When we look at these metrics, it has never been a challenge to get executive support for our wellness programs. The benefits are so evident.

Q: How has the downturn in the economy affected your wellness initiatives?

RL: We have made a conscious effort not to allow the economy to affect our wellness initiatives. We continue to focus on learning, innovation and outstanding people. In fact, in our new three-year strategic plan we have set up five teams. Two of those are specifically focused on innovation and outstanding people, which shows the value we continue to place on our employees.

Q: What do you foresee for the future of wellness in your company?

RL: This year we decided to expand to a new CareWorks Program, which we launched at the beginning of November. This further extends our KAILO Program by bringing key information and wellness services directly to the units in the workplace. We expect to be completing the rollout to all 93 units over the next 12 months.

JD: One of the key issues we want to start addressing more comprehensively moving forward is mental health through an EAP. If you look at the number of days lost in Canada—it doesn’t matter what industry—depression/anxiety is the single biggest cause of days lost. In our industry, there is so much change in terms of mergers, acquisitions, cutbacks, etc. Employees always seem to be working under anxiety-producing circumstances. Part of our work at Trillium will entail tracking leading indicators for health risk, as well as looking at programs that can be leveraged to address those risks.

As we move forward we will, in fact, be increasing our focus on our people. We believe we must offer a quality of work/life that translates into quality of care to patients. We’re considered a national leader in what we do, because we understand our employees’ needs and support them in achieving a healthy work/life balance.

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© Copyright 2009 Rogers Publishing Ltd. This article first appeared in the December 2009 edition of WORKING WELL magazine.