Speakers detail ways to build physical, mental resilience in dialysis staff
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Daily exercise is the first step to building physical and mental resilience in dialysis staff, according to a speaker at the virtual Annual Dialysis Conference.
“Sometimes we get so focused on the clinical parts of our job that we forget that it's a very physical job. There are little things that you can do to keep your flexibility and strength up,” Julie Williams, BSA, a dialysis administrator at Branson Dialysis, Heartland Kidney Centers and Harrison Dialysis in Missouri, said in the presentation. “We've all had a hard year, and we have to figure out how to be mentally strong.”
Working at the dialysis center can have physical implications for staff, whether it makes a staff member stronger or weaker. Williams listed small ways to build strength throughout a workday, such as taking time to stretch before work. Similarly, meditation or functional fitness can take less than 10 minutes a day and have a significant positive impact on physical resilience.
Physical resilience is necessary to complete the physical aspects of a job such as lifting supply boxes, catching patients when they fall or simply staying on your feet all day, Williams said.
Dialysis staff are constantly working with physically weakened patients, and the emotional implications of the job can make it difficult to stay, even without the burden of stress that the COVID-19 pandemic has added.
“Following the pandemic, so many nephrologists have constant access to work or online data and so there may not be strict work hours anymore,” Bridget Pfaff, MS, clinical operations director at Gundersen Health System in Wisconsin, said in the joint presentation. “Building boundaries with work is important. If nephrologists or staff feel the need to turn their computer on at 3 a.m., we need to ask, ‘What can we do as a center to make you not feel that way?’”
“Encouraging staff to call employee-assistant programs is important, as well,” Maria Regnier, MS, RN, the senior director at Enterprise Dialysis, said in the presentation. “Giving staff the opportunity to speak with someone to assist them in building mental resilience takes the burden off managers and staff members. Employee-assistant programs should be part of a support system, not just an outside tool.”
Taking time to acknowledge stress that dialysis staff members may be under can help strengthen their resilience, Williams said. Organizing group activities that are focused on exercise or socializing can build resilience in staff.
“Without funding, there isn’t much that dialysis centers can do aside from doing our best to make our staff feel valued,” Williams concluded.
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Williams J, et al. Caring for the caretaker: Effective strategies to recruit and maintain staff in dialysis - Joint session with renal health care association. Presented at: Annual Dialysis Conference; March 4-7, 2022 (virtual meeting).
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