Special Reports
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UWMC CARE4U Wellbeing and Support Program
The UWMC Wellbeing and Support program, CARE4U, has continued evolving in attempts to identify best practice ways of supporting staff and providers as we navigate a changed healthcare world under the sustained impact of a global pandemic. CARE4U offers a robust menu of support options and has made access to emotional support available at both campuses 24/7.
This year CARE4U introduced many new offerings and programs, most notably:
- “Got Burnout: Interrupting Isolation” Support Sessions
- These well-being support sessions have been offered virtually several times per month at many different days and times to try to accommodate as many schedules as possible. They have been well attended for over nine months now, with regular attendance of between 25-60 staff members, and are facilitated by Marie Cockerham, Support Specialist, and Cheri Constantino-Shor, NW Director of Professional Engagement and Nursing Excellence.
- Attendees dive into frank, supportive conversations on burnout, caregiver impact and fatigue, work and life stressors and much more. Most of the time is spent on allowing for safe group sharing and processing of personal experiences with the opportunity to support each other through the emotional roller coaster of the last several years. The final 15 minutes is spent with a subject matter expert on skill building exercises or micro-restorative practices.
- “Trauma Stewardship and Managing Overwhelm” with Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, international change agent and trauma exposure expert
- Laura hosted two options for two-hour foundational trainings with staff that were attended widely with very positive feedback.
- Attendees shared that through Laura’s curriculum, they felt tremendous validation and also appreciated her approach to considering both individual and, most notably, needed systematic changes to mitigate the effects of trauma exposure.
- CARE4U Website Launch
- The new and improved website now features a calendar of well-being happenings, featured events, even easier access to support programs and events, curated resources, and much more.
UWMC has also continued to resource, grow and invest in support programs, including:
- The UW Medicine Peer to Peer Program
- Spiritual Care & Well-being Employee Support
- One on One Counseling
- Tea for the Soul & Well-being Rounding
- Event & Grief Debriefs
- Well-being Education
- The Employee Assistance Program (CARELINK)
- Center for Clinical Excellence QI (Quality Improvement) Debriefs that focus on group peer support, perspective sharing, and time to focus on the emotional impact of providing care
- Moral Distress Debriefs with Ethics Consultants
- STOP and PAWS Pet Therapy Rounding for staff and providers (adding five new pet therapy teams, including a mini horse, and volunteer opportunities for staff to escort the teams with a goal to continue to increase reach to night and off shift staff and providers)
- Schwartz Rounds ongoing at both campuses
- Support Specialist group and 1:1 consultation and support
- Employee Mental Health Support Program
Healthcare worker support during this last year has been critical and through increased executive support, CARE4U has been able to increase access to our normal support and debrief options, as well as add many new support options at both UWMC campuses. We continue to adopt the best practice of an “opt out” approach to support and well-being. Over the last year, we have been able to provide support to over 6,691 employees, with an average of 582 staff that engage in direct support each month, which has grown from our average last year of reaching 480 staff per month (Figure 1).
In addition, UWMC CARE4U and UW Medicine Wellbeing and Support Program continue to collaborate to address “The Well-being Five”.