Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha keeps attrition low, despite burnout trends

The healthcare industry has had a rough three years. Doctors, nurses, and administrative staff have been battling burnout while trying to provide patients with quality care. The US Surgeon General has called for hospitals to provide more mental health care to hospital workers, among other resources, as many in the industry have left or plan to leave.

But as healthcare workers serve patients, there’s a team of human resource professionals behind the scenes, and they’re trying to make their jobs better. Janel Allen, EVP and chief people officer at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha, told Healthcare Brew how her hospital keeps attrition low and supports employees.

Connecting with the entire team

Allen said that it’s vital for a hospital’s organization to create an overall culture of inclusion and care for all.

“It’s truly about creating a culture that provides the best care for kids and their families [who] we serve,” she said. “We do that through the people that provide the care. So, we’ve been really passionate about [asking], ‘What can we do for our people?’”

She also believes that a lot of success comes from a holistic approach to employee well-being. Managers and other leaders should consistently check in with employees, as well as create focus groups and engagement surveys.

Hospitals also need to focus on building the right team to ensure the mission and guidelines around patient care are clear and well executed. Children’s Hospital & Medical Center has zeroed in on the right traits for staff through focus groups with existing teams. This process has helped teams align on what they’re looking for when interviewing candidates.

“What we found is truly, there is a calling for pediatric [care], and oftentimes you’ll have people who have had personal experiences, but others that truly want to be part of something bigger,” she explained.

Everything the hospital does is child-friendly, so Allen said she looks for people who will support that focus, even when it comes to procedures and how management interacts with other staff members.

Flexibility in healthcare?

Believe it or not, Allen said flexibility is possible, even in an industry that’s notorious for scheduling months—and sometimes years—in advance.

“Flexibility was something we’ve had to work hard on,” she said. “We spent time really focusing on flexibility in addition to well-being because that was a big need.”

Allen said that while a hospital can’t let every client work remotely, there are other ways to engrain flexibility into a health system.

For example, executives at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center use internal mobility options to help talent stay within the healthcare industry.

“Maybe they’ve been a bedside nurse and want to do something more in our clinic environment or IT space,” she said.

Executives also try to work with people when a schedule change is needed, in part because it helps retain the 80% of staff who are working parents, she said. These factors can be the make-or-break difference for retention.

“The employers and healthcare that can figure this [flexibility] out are gonna have a huge advantage,” Allen said. “I’m proud to say our retention has actually increased over the last three years.”