How happy employees lead to healthier patients at Newport Hospital

Undeniably, the past few years have exacted a costly toll on healthcare systems and providers everywhere. Job burnout among frontline workers, a general sense of so-called “COVID fatigue,” and a pandemic that forced all of us, regardless of industry, to reexamine – and in some cases reorganize – our priorities has left many hospitals nationwide struggling to recruit and retain staff, to maintain and boost morale, and simply to provide a consistently healthy work environment for both employees and the patients in their care.

Meantime, Newport Hospital continues to be an exception. “Delivering health with care” has proven more than just a slogan for us. It’s the reason we come to work every day and love what we do at this island institution that has blossomed for 150 years – and counting – into so much more than just a cherished community hospital.

We’ve had our share of challenges, for sure. During the peak of this past summer season, for instance, when most restaurants, hotels, and other downtown businesses fully reopened to visitors (thankfully!), we found ourselves competing with those traditionally seasonal businesses for support service workers. However, in general, our patients are the beneficiaries of a Newport Hospital staff that manages to perform above and beyond what can reasonably be expected under the prevailing circumstances.

As Newport Hospital’s director of patient experience, I have a front-row seat every day to witness how our employees’ well-being relates directly to our patients’ overall health journeys.

Prioritizing patients

Think about where you work or companies with whom you’ve done business. Employees who are genuinely enthusiastic about being there typically provide the best service, don’t they? Healthcare is no different. Which is why we place such a premium on keeping our employees happy. And we’re always looking for ways to improve.

A “patient experience” can encompass a whole range of factors and encounters – from the way we care for patients at the outset when they first walk through our front door, to the end of their stay when they’re discharged, and literally everything in between, including our outpatient departments and services, as well as our physician office practices. We regard all those service elements as a continuum of care, and we truly listen to our patients and consider their feedback.

For instance, we offer a survey tool in which patients are encouraged to submit their feedback in written form, as well as by scoring us on the care we provide. We take this very seriously by analyzing the data, sharing the results internally, and then setting priorities for improvement based on that vital information which comes directly from patients who’ve occupied our hospital beds and/or received our services.

Crucially, we also listen to our employees and constantly seek to keep them engaged in the ongoing conversation about Delivering health with care.

Engaging employees

Each year, we utilize an employee engagement survey tool to gauge how our staff feels about almost everything hospital related. The most recent one revealed that our employees actually feel better about the organization today compared to two years ago – a remarkable achievement given the prevailing healthcare industry climate.

We know that our staff are proud to be here, that they love the community atmosphere within this hospital, but sometimes they need even more. With that in mind, our senior leadership team, led by our passionate hospital president Crista Durand, makes certain that recruitment and retention is a top priority.

Something employees always seem to want is to see and have access to our senior leadership team. So, we’ve assembled a president’s advisory council, a group of frontline staff from various areas of the hospital who meet with Crista every month. We’ve even established a popular, semimonthly series, Breakfast with Crista and Lunch with Crista. Any staff member can attend these informal sessions for relaxed, face-to-face chats with our president.

Furthermore, we know from our employee engagement surveys that staff want their concerns taken seriously. Therefore, we follow through on their suggestions whenever possible. As evidence, we recently implemented some two dozen tactics that came directly from such efforts.

Here’s one great, recent example. Each holiday season, we host large basket raffles which are wildly popular throughout the hospital. Each department creates a themed basket (such as Sunday Night Football, Date Night, A Cozy Winter Night at Home, to name a few) and donates it to the raffle. They’re very creative and generously stocked with themed items. Staff buy tickets, and then we raffle them all off. Someone on staff suggested we donate the proceeds from those basket raffles back into the Newport community.

This year, we chose three wonderful local organizations: the Pell School, for their backpack feeding program; the Tomorrow Fund (based out of Lifespan sister hospital Hasbro Children's), which helps support the families of children with cancer; and the Middletown Senior Center, which helps feed and provide social services to our large senior community.

A family feeling

Many of us have worked at Newport Hospital for most, if not all of our careers. In fact, we recently held a celebration for dozens of staff who celebrated work anniversaries in 2022, ranging from 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, to – believe it or not – even 50 years!

A number of us who work here – myself included – were also born here at the hospital, which makes it even more of a special, personal experience. On any given day, we could be seeing a loved one, a dear friend, a neighbor, or someone else we know come walking through our doors in need of medical care and attention. And so, we make it our mission to treat everyone who comes here like family, whether they’re a patient or an employee.

If you’d like to work for Newport Hospital, either as a paid employee or on a volunteer basis, we have numerous departments and roles that might suit you – and you don’t have to be a doctor or nurse or even a medical professional of any kind to qualify for many of them.

Please visit https://jobs.lifespan.org and then filter your search for openings here in Newport to begin exploring the many meaningful opportunities we offer to work at a really great place.

Pam McLaughlin, a native Aquidneck Islander and 35-year Newport Hospital employee, currently serves as director of patient experience. Health Matters appears monthly on newportri.com and in The Daily News.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Happy employees lead to healthier patients at Newport Hospital