Leadership support may be just what healthcare workers — and particularly infection preventionists — at long-term care communities need to avoid burnout.
A survey released Wednesday in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology revealed the effects of strong leadership support on workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A team from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Administration at the University of Colorado and University of Michigan surveyed 415 infection prevention specialists at about 900 hospitals from April to December 2021. The questionnaires took into account the facility’s organizational management and infection-prevention strategies.
Of the people who responded, 64% said they had good support from the hospital for their infection prevention and control programs. Even though 49% said they were burned out, hospitals that had stronger support did have less burnout and a greater feeling of psychological safety.
“Over time, infection preventionists’ roles shifted from training staff to enforcing evolving policies like face shields and contact tracing, which were questioned for their effectiveness and purpose,” researchers wrote. “This shift resulted in many infection preventionists reporting feeling a lack of control and a lack of credibility among staff.”
Of the workers, 77% said they felt comfortable speaking up if they had problems on the job. Over 90% of the healthcare workers surveyed said they spoke out about their views even when they didn’t know if a supervisor would disagree.
On a related note, a Perceptyx survey released Monday found that nurses who have managers who support their development are 10.6 times more likely to stay job wise instead of leaving their employers. Nurses who had the chance to learn more while they work are 7.3 times more likely to stay with their organizations in the near term, the survey found.
The survey of 1,600 healthcare providers (along with 3.65 million people in the company’s database) found that doctors and nurses differ when it comes to staying put; doctors want autonomy and nurses are more into career development, they survey found.
