Staffing Watch

Do your employees feel valued?

Hospital leaders should step up efforts to ensure that employees feel valued and empowered, according to the 2010 "Hospital Pulse Report: Employee and Nurse Perspectives on American Health Care." The report from Press Ganey Associates says there is a strong correlation between patient satisfaction and employee "partnership." Yet 45 percent of hospital employees "feel distanced from or discontent with their current work" and those closest to patient care are least likely to feel satisfied and engaged with their organization. By generation, younger employees are least satisfied and "have a greater need to receive recognition, to be included in decisions and to engage in real-time communication with hospital administration," Press Ganey reports. For information, visit www.pressganey.com.

Ohio State helps stressed-out clinicianshigh

Ohio State University Medical Center has launched the Stress, Trauma and Resilience program to help physicians and nurses cope with the tension from their work. STAR offers everything from tips on how to reduce stress to crisis management to one-on-one peer counseling. Additional training is planned for clinicians who deal with traumatic situations most frequently, such as in the emergency department and surgical intensive care unit. The people behind STAR say it could become a national model to focus more attention on the mental health of health care providers. For information, visit http://msmediacenter.tv.

A Job for the Times

Energy costs keep climbing; waste management continues to be vexing; conserving water, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and generally making facilities and operations more "green" is a growing imperative. To oversee all that, hospitals are hiring so-called sustainability managers, according to a survey by the International Facilities Management Association and the Corporate Realty, Design & Management Institute. Seventy-three percent of respondents said appointing a sustainability manager is the most important step in getting a facility on track with environmental issues, though some hospitals prefer creating a sustainability committee. For information, visit www.squarefootage.net.

Docs want Jobs

Hospital-owned practices were more successful at attracting physicians in 2009 than other types of practices, according to the Medical Group Management Association. Uncertainty over reimbursement and practicing in areas with large Medicare populations were top factors in prompting doctors to look for hospital employment. Visit www.mgma.com.

This article 1st appeared in the July 2010 issue of HHN Magazine.

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