Compassion Fatigue - are we losing our best and brightest to this?

Science Daily ran a news story about compassion fatigue a couple years ago, and I still think of it today (read it here).

The story details the challenges that health care professionals who care for severely ill, dying individuals experience.

The term compassion fatigue was first coined in the 1990s to describe a syndrome experienced by a healthcare provider caring for individuals facing dire consequences as a result of their disease. Going beyond empathy or "feeling bad" for the person, it effects the nurse, doctor or other member of the healthcare team in a way that he or she often develops a distance from the patient as a way of self-protection.

Symptoms of compassion fatigue include chronic tiredness and irritability, lack of joy in life, engagement in behaviors which are fine in moderation, such as drinking, at a destructive level. Like individuals who have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), those with compassion fatigue often re-experience the deaths of their patients, according to Dr. Carney Doebbeling.

Compassion fatigue can lead individuals to protect or insulate themselves by loss of compassion, cynicism, boredom, decreased productivity, more sick days and ultimately higher turnover.

In my early days training senior care staff, we used to talk about the one certainty we face as senior care professionals: every one of our clients will die. Some quickly; some after many years in our care. But they will all, eventually, die.

That fact makes us all ripe for compassion fatigue. Perhaps it explains, at least a little, the high rate of turnover that is endemic to our profession.

There are simple things we can do to support people who may be in the grip of compassion fatigue:

• Send a card or flowers to a caregiver you know.
• Volunteer your time to give a caregiver a break…Even a “How you doin’?” can lift the spirits.
• Give a hand-written card. 
• Say “hi” and “thank-you” to team members.

As leaders and decision-makers, we’re often out of the daily grind that breeds this depth of fatigue. But we’re in the perfect position to support these individuals; to recognize that caring, with compassion, takes a toll.

These simple things may be unexpected, and all the more powerful to lift the spirits and lighten the psychological load of the most important members of our team: the compassion-filled caregivers.

Help! I've run out of time! Stress reduction tips for the busy senior care manager

If you’re like me, days when your time is short – but your task list is still long – are days that add to your stress.

I’m sure you don’t get snappy and irritable, like I do. I imagine that you balance your personal stress much better – or maybe not.

The things that stress me the worst are those that are out of my control; something that stress experts find is pretty universal. We tend to feel more and more stress the less control we have over events. The best solution to these stressors is to find a way to gain control over them, or at least more control than you currently have.

Let’s consider training (I bet that surprises you)! You have a minimum required number of training hours that you need to ensure that your employees complete each year. Some training must be completed before the person can work independently; other training, like first aid, is simply one of those things that you need to get checked off as quickly as possible after hire.

Stressor #1: Requirements. You have no control over them – you can’t modify them for this person or that. They are always there, hanging over your head.

Stressor #2: Your employees. Sign them up for a first aid class. Bring in a trainer. Take precious time out of your busy week to present an inservice. And definitely make attendance mandatory. Your employees, over whom you have only a perception of control, will not all show up. Some may be sick; others won’t be able to find childcare; still others will simply say, “Oh, I forgot.”

Stressor #3: Surveyors from licensing and internal QA monitors. Yet another element you can’t control. They’ll ask you for detailed records of your training compliance, and they won’t give you a lot of time to hunt for those records. You’re either compliant – and can quickly demonstrate that – or you’re not…and you’d better think about career decisions.

You can gain control over these stressors. They don’t need to add to your stress by being things that, in your mind, you have absolutely no control over.

Here’s how:

Stressor #1: OK, you’re not going to get rid of regulations, or change them to suit your situation. But you can look at regulations, especially in the area of training, as your outline for planning the entire year’s worth of training opportunities. You can schedule them, topic by topic, onto a calendar and get a sense of mastery over the requirements.

Stressor #2: Keep holding monthly meetings, but change them from mandatory inservices to team-building, informational sessions. Bring a cake and celebrate the monthly birthday; read thank-you notes from clients or families, share what you’ve seen that month that makes you proud of your team. Then assign your team their required training topics to be completed online at a time that works for them during the month. Just make sure that they all know what topic is assigned, and when it is due. Recognize those that completed their training at your monthly team-building meetings, or those that went beyond the minimum and learned even more. But take the compliance monkey off your back, as it were, and give that responsibility to your employees. Your job, as a leader, is to assign, ensure completion and then look for ways to give personal feedback and guidance.

Stressor #3: This is an easy one if you’ve chosen an online training system with easy-to-use reports. Here’s what one of our clients emailed us the other day, “It was our first survey in four years and I was very nervous. The surveyor asked to see training records for specific employees. With just a couple of clicks I could show her exactly what she wanted. Whew! We sailed through survey; I consider the cost of this online training program worth every cent.”

The stresses in this line of work are many. Smart choices and good use of your resources can help you gain control and reduce at least a few areas of stress!

How to Break through the Wall – Creating Success in Times that Feel Impossible

On my daily walks I travel along the Willamette River.  It’s not a wide river, but just upstream is a broad, powerful falls.  The banks of the river are steep rock walls, dropping over 70 feet from the roadway to the water below.  I’ve been walking along this river nearly every day for years now.  It’s my few minutes for reflection and planning; lately I’ve found myself thinking about the power of the water.

I see how the water, when it is focused into a narrow channel, can cut through what appears to be solid rock.  The water that falls as a soft, blanketing mist much of the winter here in Oregon turns into a force that literally changes the landscape.  It cuts its way cleanly through stone, over time.

As I consider that force, I think of two key concepts that I can apply to my work: focus and tenacity.  It’s easy in any business to try something a time or two and then give up, looking for an easier way around an obstacle.

Obstacles like a poor economy, however, aren’t easy to get around.  When the primary barrier to your success is money, from the client’s perspective, it can feel like a solid rock wall.

Whether you’re talking about a community that desperately needs census building to cover payroll and other costs, or, as in my business, a product that is needed but may not be considered essential to operations, the barriers can feel rock solid and impenetrable.

That’s when I start thinking about the river.  It can’t break through a solid wall with a meandering stream.  But when the force of the river is focused into a single, powerful jet of water, it can cut through almost anything – given enough time.  That’s the second part of this principle – time and consistency.  The Grand Canyon wasn’t forged in a single season, but it created a masterpiece over time with the focus and tenacity that is, itself, a force of nature.

From my personal perspective, I was encouraged by news articles like the one out of London awhile back (http://www.trainingpressreleases.com/newsstory.asp?NewsID=4042) that reported that 78% of human resources leaders are looking to online training to reduce their costs in accessing external trainers and resources and 57% are looking for ways to reduce the amount of time staff spend out of the office on training.  This report shows a trend toward larger companies looking at custom online training as a way to reduce their training expenses while still maintaining a competitive edge during tough times.  Of course, this is exactly what our company has been promoting for years, often feeling like we were running into that solid rock wall of resistance.

The expert quoted in the article concludes, "Now, more than ever, it is imperative to have a fully trained and knowledgeable workforce on hand to see you through these tough times but not at the expense of productivity. eLearning solutions such as virtual classrooms, web based training and mobile learning not only minimise the time employees spend out of the office, but they also allow employees to carry out training at flexible times, thereby reducing impact on their day-to-day work."

Ah, a little crack in the wall is suddenly appearing.

I believe that I’ll focus and continue to be tenacious, and see if we can create a channel right through this barrier.

What’s your barrier?  Take a lesson from the river, and break through it this winter!

Help! Who Made Me the Boss? - Leadership Skills for the New Supervisor

Did you know that the number one reason people LOVE or HATE their job is because of their boss?

You can give people more money, more time off, more challenges, but if they don't like their boss, they'll be gone.

So how do you be a good boss, and gain the loyalty and respect of your employees at the same time?

You're the Boss - believe it

One of the biggest mistakes we've seen over the years is the person, newly promoted to team leadership, who is still trying to prove him or herself.

There was Delilah who would change people's schedules just to show them that she could.

There was Nancy who would talk to the people on her team in a confrontational, hostile manner.

There was Bob, who simply laughed and joked with people - he NEVER corrected anyone about anything.

Bad bosses, every single one of them.

None of them had yet accepted the true meaning of being a boss: an opportunity and a privilege.

Being the boss doesn't mean wielding power in the way someone may have done in your life.

It doesn't mean being tough - or too nice.

It DOES mean seeing your role in a totally different way. Looking at the big picture, instead of just the job. Thinking about what you want your team to become, and how you want to build higher quality in every aspect of the job.

It means having the opportunity to help the people who work on your team become better at what they do.

It means feeling gratitude and a sense of responsibility that you have the power to make people love their job - or hate it. You have the power to give someone a job - or take it away. You have the power to make work a rewarding, challenging, great place to be - or a place with constant turnover because it's boring and unrewarding.

Take the time - NOW - to build your skills to become the kind of boss people want to work for - a great boss!