As the COVID-19 pandemic wore on far longer than many projected with the absence of mental health, languishing (described as emptiness and stagnation,) and a risk factor for developing mental health conditions emerged in the nation’s workforce. Observable waves of languishing and burnout affecting healthcare provider organizations, particularly as the after-effects of the financial and staffing crises have persisted. While the media has highlighted burnout among clinicians and frontline staff, little attention has been given to the experiences of healthcare administrative leaders and their teams, who also experienced high degrees of situational stress.

Healthcare leaders have shared the peculiar observation that their leadership teams felt most united when they were dealing with the acute phases of the COVID-19 crisis. Now that the acuity has simmered into chronicity, teams are fatigued and not working together as well as they could be; this dynamic is described among leadership teams as “organizational languishing.” Many healthcare leaders want to hit a proverbial reset button and identify opportunities to reinvigorate and collaborate more effectively with their teams.

This program will explore ideas and discuss support that leaders can apply to re-align and renew themselves, their team members and their organizations to shift toward a flourishing and sustainable future.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore the concepts of organizational languishing and burnout among healthcare administrative leadership teams and the challenges and risks posed when left unaddressed.
• Discuss challenges, insights and options for re-aligning leadership teams in the wake of COVID-19 and the financial and staffing crises.
• Tap into the experiences of a state health officer, a human resources executive in academic medicine and a physician and healthcare management consultant.

Moderator:

Jason Pradarelli, MD, Manager, CFAR

Presenters:

Nizar Wehbi, MD, FACHE, State Health Officer, North Dakota

Adrienne Mitchell, SPHR, Chief People Officer, Medical College of Wisconsin

This session was originally presented at the 2021 Congress on Healthcare Leadership.

ACHE Qualifying Education Credit 

This activity is eligible for 1 ACHE Qualifying Education credit toward earning or maintaining your FACHE credential. 

Credits must be self-reported at My ACHE upon completion of this activity.