Organizational Levers for Frontline Health Care Employee Well-Being in Long-Term Care

Abstract

This study joins the national conversation about COVID-19-related impacts on the beliefs of frontline health care employees in long-term care (LTC) communities and how their emotional exhaustion, fatigue, and burnout at work are associated with their perception of less work effectiveness. The literature supports an organizational employee well-being strategy that leverages organizational resources to reduce the harmful effects of direct caregiver chronic distress and long hours, which are negative contributors to the crisis-level employee turnover in LTC communities nationally. Qualtrics survey data were collected using items adapted from validated instruments and two work well-being and effectiveness items for before and during COVID-19 were developed specifically for this study. Social cognitive theory provided the theoretical foundation for studying this problem’s effects on frontline employees, provision of quality care, and health organizations. The current study’s findings revealed that during COVID-19, participants felt emotionally exhausted, fatigued, burnout and regularly held perceptions of less work effectiveness. Female gender, more hours, and more years of work in LTC communities showed demographic differences for emotional exhaustion and burnout and perceptions of less work effectiveness. When considering organizational levers and supervisor strategies to support well-being, the only statistically significant finding was that participants reported there were no organizational policies and procedures and no supervisor strategies offered and none were most effective for supporting their well-being. Participants also reported their organization’s offered wellness resources and rewards and incentives and supervisor strategies focused on support and communication. Recommendations include leveraging three organizational initiatives: LTC frontline employee accessibility to mental health services, nurse supervisor leadership training and development, and CNA employee empowerment initiatives.