Manage Pandemic Stress and Prevent Burnout – A Guide for PSWs and Frontline Healthcare Workers at Long-Term Care Homes

During the COVID-19 pandemic, frontline healthcare workers and personal support workers are facing medical, technical, and organizational challenges. Numerous surveys show PSWs are emotionally and physically burned out, feel overwhelmed, and are worried about exposing their loved ones to the virus. 

With new, highly contagious variants of the coronavirus, the pandemic is far from over, and healthcare teams aren’t getting any breaks. It is essential to make sure that your frontline staff are taken care of so they can take care of everyone else. 

One way healthcare organizations can relieve employees is by implementing an automated shift filling software that can streamline communication, provide your healthcare team with accurate data, and save your team time, allowing them to focus on the tasks that matter. 

How to Cope with Stress During the Pandemic

Over a year into the COVID pandemic, many regions are experiencing repeated lockdowns or quarantine periods. Healthcare staff have been working long hours under emotionally stressful conditions. 

Healthcare organizations need to figure out how to help PSWs and other frontline healthcare workers cope with burnout and repeated stress. 

When chronic stress or emotional tension is not adequately addressed, it can cause serious health effects, including an elevated risk of heart attacks, increased blood pressure, and a suppressed immune system. During these difficult times, you need frontline workers, such as personal support workers, to be as healthy as possible so they can provide the best care to patients in need. 

While creating a mental health plan that fits the employees’ current physical and emotional needs is a good idea, you need a more advanced solution that will organize your workers and keep the communication between them quick and simple.

Implementing shift management software in your clinic or long-term care home can save you time and money and reduce stress for everyone. With the right shift filling solution, you can reach your staff in an automated way and allow your employees to communicate better with each other. 

How Shift Filling Software Can Make Life Better for Employees

No matter how challenging the communication system is at your long-term care home, a shift filling software can save you time and help you automate scheduling in a few clicks. 

Instead of spending hours planning shifts and  getting your frontline workers organized, you can create practical schedules that incorporate additional details (shift requests or overtime) with just a few clicks. 

Staff management software allows you to communicate with all of your employees via phone, text, or email within seconds. You can create shift requests or organize your workers from anywhere, at any time. 

Easy communication and better organization can reduce stress on PSWs and frontline healthcare workers and allow them to focus on the most important tasks at the moment – taking care of patients. 

Getting started with shift planning software is easy. You can access the software via your laptop or smartphone. A high-quality shift filling software system is usually web-based and has an app with the same features and functions on both. 

Depending on your needs, you can download and use the shift filling app or access all details from your work laptop. Everyone in your team will have access to their schedules from the mobile and web app. 

The Benefits of Shift Filling Software

With effective communication and organization, scheduling doesn’t have to be an impossible task, even with the additional stress of a pandemic. With a nursing home scheduling app, you can ease the tension in your workplace and increase productivity. 

Better Communication 

Finding available and qualified personnel to fill shifts is almost more challenging than ever during the pandemic. With a predictive scheduler, healthcare organizations can message employees their schedule changes, approved time off, or inform them of scheduled alerts. 

Improved Job Performance 

PSWs and frontline healthcare workers are responsible for many things and rarely find time to pause and take a break, which can take a toll on their mental health. An automated shift filling software can reduce the stress and challenges that come with shift scheduling. 

When an emergency arises, the app will show available workers to meet patient needs and allow for easy and quick communication with the rest of the team. 

If a particular employee has already worked to their maximum capacity for the week, you can set up the app so they don’t appear among the list of available personnel. 

Minimize Burnout for Healthcare Workers 

Long-term care homes across the country are seeing a shortage of healthcare workers due to the high numbers of coronavirus cases. This leads to overworked personnel who are exhausted while on the job. 

Healthcare organizations that use shift filling software can better organize their available workers and view the availability of every employee for the day. The software system helps manage all the details and inform employees via phone, text, or email. We all know that personal support workers and other frontline workers have personal lives and aren’t always available for every shift that opens up during their time off. 

When you show appreciation and care for your frontline workers, you can expect less stress and tension at your workplace. Your personnel won’t feel tired or stressed while on the job, leading to better work quality and increased patient satisfaction. With a shift filling software solution, everybody wins. 

A Final Word 

For over a year, PSWs and frontline healthcare workers have been exposed to high workloads and stressful situations due to the coronavirus pandemic. If you want to help them manage pandemic stress and prevent burnout, you need a solution that will take the organizational and scheduling burden off their shoulders so they can focus on the patients. 

For healthcare organizations and long-term care homes looking for a technological solution to this challenge, shift filling software is one of the best options. From improving communication between employees and managers to boosting job performance, increasing employee accountability, and minimizing burnout, this software can help your staff and your organization thrive despite the challenges of COVID-19.