The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous impact on all aspects of life, from its global effect on the workforce, causing staffing and supply shortages, to its influence on a more local level, altering the way patient care is delivered at Pennsylvania Hospital. While employees are caring for patients, we encourage all staff to also seek care for themselves, and to care for each other.
Programs like Care for the Care Provider and Penn COBALT offer mental health and wellness resources, which can connect employees to therapists, psychiatrists, and peers. In addition, we urge employees to support and check in on their peers in other ways, creating a caring culture at PAH.
Last month, we honored employees who have exemplified compassionate care for fellow colleagues, patients, and visitors. The Hubschman Award – described in this month’s issue of What’s New – recognized Altrucia Jones for her thoughtfulness toward others at the PAH cafeteria. Similarly, the Josie King Hero Award recognized a group and their efforts for their commitment to patient safety, identifying ways to improve communication and teamwork among colleagues.
In this month’s System News, Betty Craig, DNP, chief nursing officer, further discusses how our staff have contributed to making meaningful changes and improvements in our workflows, preparing for the next generation of nurses as we continue our recruitment efforts to build up our permanent workforce for ongoing steady support. Furthermore, Betty shares the many ways we’ve worked to make it rewarding to remain in a nursing career at PAH, including examples of staff who have advanced through continued education, completing Master’s programs and enrolling in gateway programs like Gateway to the OR – also featured in this issue – to build specialized skillsets in patient care.
While there are constant changes in the world, from new workflows to shortages, we are not short on the gratitude we have for our staff who go above and beyond for others, working hard to achieve interpersonal and professional goals. To all staff, we are proud of your consistent strength and resilience, and your courageous work does not go unnoticed.