Reducing Staff Turnover and Clinician Burnout With a Structured Support Group During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Retention and burnout have always been a challenge for nurse leaders, but the pandemic brought these concerns to a whole new level. And now the Great Resignation is affecting health care. So how can nurse leaders at hospitals and health care systems create a supportive environment for staff during a public health emergency? Structured support groups are a viable option for emphasizing self-care and wellness. We explain why we decided to form a structured support group for our intensive care unit nurses and illustrate the results from our clinical research team. In addition, we share feedback we received from participating nurses and offer advice on forming a structured support group in acute care settings. This strategy resulted in a change in the participant's behaviors after attending the structured emotional support group. This finding aligns with the literature, which supports strategies to protect nurses' mental well-being and to take preventive measures in critical situations. Using this as a foundation, a structured emotional support group can change nurse engagement and involvement in their process and practice, during times of crisis. Many other benefits could be realized from this strategy such as improved nursing practice and processes, improved nurse satisfaction, and improved recruitment and retention.

Promoting Well-being: A Scoping Review of Strategies Implemented During the COVID-19 Pandemic to Enhance the Well-being of the Nursing Workforce

“…Nurse leaders support frontline staff via role modelling self-care practices, build resilience, and promote self-care. Drexler et al., ( Drexler et al., 2023 ) USA Determine if offering structured emotional support for future unprecedented clinical experiences is a valuable tool for staff. Determine what improvements and/or changes should be made in emotional support offerings to better serve those seeking support.…”

“…Included studies were from USA (n=9), Italy (n=2), UK (n=2), Australia (n=2), Taiwan (n=2), Jordan (n=1), Spain (n=1), Iran (n=1), and China (n=1). 17 of the included studies were conducted in acute hospital settings or services: with 6 focusing on broad health districts ( Blake et al., 2020 , 2021 ; Holton et al., 2022 ; Olcoń et al., 2022 ; Sawyer et al., 2022 ; Sawyer et al., 2022 ), 5 focusing on single or multiple hospital sites ( Castillo-Sánchez et al., 2022 , Carter and Turner, 2021 , Hsieh et al., 2022 , Muir et al., 2022 , Zaghini et al., 2021 )) and 6 focusing on individual units or wards, including a range of specialty areas such as Intensive Care Units ( Drexler et al., 2023 , Green et al., 2022 ), Emergency ( Haugland et al., 2023 , Yang et al., 2022 ), Surgical ( King et al., 2022 ), and COVID-19 care wards ( Nourian et al., 2021 ). One study conducted by Chen et al.…”

“…When the leadership of a critical care unit in the USA observed continued signs of fatigue and moral distress, despite early interventions such as well-being rooms, and regular debriefing, they implemented a structured support group for nursing staff ( Drexler et al., 2023 ). The weekly online meetings were conducted by a clinical psychologist, and participants felt that sharing their experiences with peers was helpful and reduced their sense of isolation.…”

“…The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nursing staff has been well described, with studies identifying increased levels of emotional exhaustion or burnout, increased absenteeism, and increased turnover of frontline nursing staff ( Drexler et al., 2023 ). The daily uncertainty that resulted from the pandemic became a source of stress for healthcare professionals ( Sawyer et al., 2022 ).…”

“…The daily uncertainty that resulted from the pandemic became a source of stress for healthcare professionals ( Sawyer et al., 2022 ). Nursing staff were confronted with a number of stressors exacerbated by the pandemic such as: the introduction of new technology and workplace practices, higher patient loads and higher patient acuity, changes to roles and responsibilities, as well as moral distress ( Blake et al., 2021 , Drexler et al., 2023 , Sawyer et al., 2022 ). As the impact of the pandemic became clearer, strategies were introduced to help build the resilience and enhance the well-being of the nursing workforce ( Blake et al., 2021 ).…”