Oregon-based Partners In Care is developing a program aimed at increasing the well-being of its hospice and home health clinical workforce and minimizing the impacts of burnout.
The hospice and palliative care provider recently received a $50,000 grant from the Oregon Center for Nursing to support the program’s launch, which is dubbed Care for the Caregivers.
The program is two-fold in its purpose in terms of alleviating clinicians’ stress and fostering a team-building culture, according to Jodi Bigness, registered nurse and hospice nursing supervisor at Partners In Care.
“We can’t wait to begin our project, Care for the Caregivers: A Holistic Approach to Wellness for Home Health and Hospice Nurses,” Bigness said in an announcement. “This is a great opportunity for our nurses to learn new ways to practice self-care while also bringing our teams together. I know that caring for ourselves first can only make us better at caring for others, but sometimes we all need to be reminded of that.”
Partners In Care provides hospice, home health and palliative care across a three-county service region in central Oregon. The nonprofit organization also operates the Hospice House at Partners In Care and offers transitional care services, along with grief support and veteran programs. Its workforce is made up of more than 200 employees and 150 local volunteers.
Among the factors propelling the wellness program forward is a drive to better ensure patient access by maintaining clinical capacity, including bridging health inequities in low-income and rural areas with limited availability of health care providers.
The funding was issued as part of the Oregon Center for Nursing’s initiative to foster greater access to long-term care for patients in the home, and in assisted living, memory care or skilled nursing facilities throughout the state, according to Jana Bitton, the organization’s executive director.
“The Oregon Center for Nursing is thrilled to support these projects addressing the unique challenges this workforce population faces,” Bitton stated.
Hospices across the country are grappling with a thinning workforce amid widespread staffing shortages and higher turnover rates on the heels of a pandemic.
Burnout is a main pressure point among the hospice workforce, as well as across the care continuum. Hospices are among the health sectors that may bear the brunt of burnout, particularly among younger and less experienced nurses, according to an analysis from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).
Nearly 900,000 of the nation’s 4.5 million registered nurses expect to leave the health care workforce by 2027, the NCSBN research found.
Preventing burnout among staff takes creating a sustainable and supportive work environment, a main impetus driving the caregiving burnout prevention program forward, according to Partners In Care CEO Greg Hagfors.
The caregiving program will measure staff engagement and continuously collect feedback from nurses to evaluate effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.
“Partners In Care recognizes the crucial role that our nursing staff plays in providing quality care to patients and their families,” Hagfors said. “We also recognize the significant challenges that nurses face in their profession, which can have a detrimental impact on their health and well-being.”
