Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | November 14, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 15 I'm concerned about quiet quitting F L AS H P O L L Are you worried your employees will engage in quiet quitting? Fueled by employee burnout and a labor market that has favored workers and job seekers, the phenomenon of quiet quitting has emerged this year. In quiet quitting, employees refuse to go above and beyond for their employers while still staying in their jobs, doing the minimum to stay employed. When polled online, just over half of WBJ readers said they were concerned about quiet quitting at their companies. H E A L T H C A R E F O C U S COMMENTS "Quiet quitting has been going on for decades. It's nothing new. Someone just put a fancy name on it to scare employers into thinking it's something new." Yes 51% No 49% CEO of the Duke University Medical Center, told the audience of a U.S. News & World Report webinar even before the pandemic physicians were two times more susceptible to burnout and about 40% of physicians surveyed reported depression and suicidal ideation. Since the pandemic, though, the numbers have risen. Dzau said 60% to 75% of clinicians reported symptoms of exhaustion, depression, sleep disorders, and PTSD. Pair that with 20% of health- care workers quitting, and the issues exacerbate themselves. All of this is what Dr. Shlomit Schaal is attempting to combat as the president of the UMass Memorial Medical Group, which is the nonprofit group of primary care and specialty providers for the larg- er healthcare provider parent organiza- tion UMass Memorial Health. "e problem with us is that we are in healthcare and no one wants a physi- cian to quiet quit on them," Schaal said. "You don't want the physicians to do the minimum that they can because this is a profession of continuous learning, and medicine is always changing. I'm an eye surgeon, and nothing I do today is the way I was taught because medicine has been changing and progressing so fast." Schaal's focus is on the 1,200-plus physicians in her group. She wants them to feel the value of being a doctor. She wants them to be reminded of why they took on this job in the first place and the moral compass that led them to want to help, because even in the darkest of times they're helping. at's their job. ere are dark and long days. Zoom call days that feel like they never end. Even as the strain increases as the population continues to grow and age – with the Baby Boomer generation now firmly at the age where it will need more care – the number of physicians in Schaal's group has stayed the same since 2018. Schaal wants the physicians to remember that in the long run, the job is fulfilling. It's about helping people and seeing people live and have a better life. Schaal sees the hospital as one ecosys- tem. She wants everyone to know they're part of this noble profession of keeping people healthy and alive. "So it is reminding people we are here to improve other people's lives, to save lives," Schaal said. "It is a continuous re- minder that we need to put the purpose in front of everybody every day. And remind people that this is not just a job, not just a career. It is a purpose – a noble purpose, a noble profession." Nurses struggling e ecosystem Schaal believes in, though, is struggling, as nurses are feel- ing the pull on the front lines. Wolfe, the 26-year veteran of UMass Memorial Medical Center, can't remem- ber a time when nurses weren't talking about needing more help. She has begun to see the impact the long hours and demanding work has taken on them. "People looked at going above and beyond and recognized the toll it was taking on them," Wolfe said. "I have to think about the impact on me and my family [of working more]." For her, the weight of not taking off aer work and forgetting her job can feel like it's too much to handle, she said. Miko Nakagawa spent 20 years as a nurse in the emergency department be- fore moving over to the recovery room at the Leominster campus of UMass Me- morial Health's HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital, and she feels the hospital has lost its place in the community, as it can no longer solely fulfill community needs. Instead, the hospital funnels patients to the bigger UMass Memorial hospitals in Worcester, she said, but with that delay time comes issues and sometimes pa- tients can't be seen because of a shortage of beds in Worcester. is puts nurses on the front lines of keeping people safe and healthy while not always being able to provide the necessary treatment. "We don't have the specialty doctors," Nakagawa said. "We don't have every- thing they have in Worcester." On top of that, Nakagawa feels the nurses there have been forgotten, which has led to quitting. "We don't feel listened to or valued," Nakagawa said. Finding hope e issues aren't' only for nurses, though. Dr. Peter Smulowitz, chief medical officer for the Milford Regional Medical Center, has seen it first hand and said the issues of morale are indus- try-wide. "ere have been issues caring for patients for the last three years – not enough staff or beds," Smulowitz said. is lack of resources gives doctors the feeling they don't have any control over the situation, he said. Doctors need systematic help to get out of the rut they're in, Smulowitz said. ey're behind and unable to keep up with patients and their needs. A 2021 Massachusetts health insurance survey from the Center for Health Information and Analysis reported 34% of Massa- chusetts residents reported difficulties accessing care in 2021, with 19% re- porting difficulties getting an appoint- ment with a doctor's office or clinic as soon as needed. Workers struggle aer coming out of extreme moments in history, like a pandemic, said Kathy Kacher, president of Career/Life Alliance Services, Inc. in Minnesota and a workforce solutions specialist. In order to prevent worker fatigue, disengagement, burnout, quiet quitting, or whatever you want to call it, Kacher said more employers need to pay attention to what is happening. "People come out from under the table to get back to the world," Kacher said. Now, though, instead of coming out of a pandemic and getting back into working extra long hours in the office, people learned what it was like to spend time with their families and close friends and don't want to give that up again, she said. On top of that, people now know their value and are more aware of their mental health. "e No. 1 issue [aer the pandemic] was mental health," Kacher said. "People are done. ey're tired." Kacher offered simple advice for com- panies to keep their employees engaged: Be kind and listen. "Be generous, be empathetic, and have trust," Kacher said. "If you can't find the problem, you have to go to the front line and ask and listen." For its part, UMass Memorial has held town hall meetings for its employ- ees so they can voice their opinions and be heard. On top of that, nurses and the hospital group agreed to new contracts that increase nurses' benefits and wages, making the positions more desirable. is is all part of creating the ecosystem Schaal from UMass Memorial spoke about. "We have idea boards where everyone can voice their opinions and give sug- gestions for improvement," Schaal said. "I know my professional stuff – I know the books, I know the articles – but I don't know the everyday problems and what the solution is for them. Everyone at every level can solve something. We have what we call huddles, and [in] the huddles we have physicians, nurses, technicians, secretaries that participate in weekly huddles; and we can say, 'You know what, we have this problem, and this is my suggestion on how to solve it.'" For nurses like Wolfe, listening is key on more than one front. ey're asking patients to listen to them and not threat- en them with physical or verbal abuse, and they're asking the hospital to staff up with full-time nurses on teams they can grow and work with. "We need hope," Wolfe said, "that it's going to change." PHOTO | COURTESY OF UMASS MEMORIAL HEALTH Dr. Shlomit Schaal, president of the UMass Memorial Medical Group, tries to remind her employees of the noble purpose of their profession. W

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