Summer In-Brief 2018 - Flipbook - Page 1
In-Brief
The workforce issue - Summer 2018
Welcome to In-Brief
Welcome to our summer edition of Niche In-Brief; our subscription only collection of insights and articles from our
practitioners and partners. As the NHS reaches the grand age of 70 this year we wanted to pause for a moment to pay
tribute to its staff and also to consider the myriad of challenges the NHS faces today, particularly around workforce. In
this edition we give you ideas on how to cope with staff who are experiencing stress or resilience issues, we also talk
about the merits of surveys and how you can do more to understand the experiences of your workforce from a
multitude of angles. We have some interesting observations on workforce modelling and also the importance of
reviewing the experiences of your staff when evaluating service changes. Last of all, here at Niche we want to say a big
“thank you” to the NHS and those who have inspired us over the years (page 11). See you again in autumn.
Diagnosis: Compassion fatigue
In this edition:
Compassion fatigue
Page 1-3
“You said - We did”
Page 4-5
Modelling a future fit
workforce
Page 6-7
Recruitment and retention of skilled and experienced staff is a major issue
for healthcare providers, one that is affecting the NHS, social care and the
independent sector. It is well known that the costs of advertising, interviewing,
training and inducting new staff can be a major drain on resources. To combat
(mostly negative) staff attrition organisations have rightly increased their focus
upon the workplace wellbeing and the mental healthcare of staff.
Certainly, in recent years the focus has shifted from responsive means to the
treatment of staff who may be struggling to fulfil their role, towards preventing
staff from becoming unable to cope in the first place (in line with broader
public health policy shifts).
What does struggling to cope look like in the caring professions?
Here are a few pronounced (and unfortunately fairly common) concepts which
we see increasingly in the workplaces of today:
•
Burnout has become a conceptual description for a ‘psychological
syndrome in response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job’. The
defining characteristics are described as ‘overwhelming exhaustion,
feelings of cynicism and detachment from the job, and a sense of
ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment’ (1).
•
Compassion fatigue is a concept described as the ‘reduced capacity or
interest in being empathic’ or ‘bearing the suffering of clients’ (2).
•
Emotional labour is a term used to describe ‘managing emotions for a
wage’. This may see workers managing emotions through both ‘surface
acting’- where emotional expressions are regulated, and ‘deep acting’ where feelings are modified to express the desired outcome. Because of
the effort involved and the degree of control required (or exerted by the
organisation), it is suggested that this can significantly contribute to burnout
and stress (3).
Evaluating the change
Page 7-8
The question of
judgement
Page 9-10
NHS at 70 – Roll call
Page 11
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