1.
Thomas Tonkin, Ph.D.
Preventing Staff Burnout:
Strategies for Happier Staff
and Healthier Patients

2.
Thank You to All of Our
Attendees!

3.
Dr. Tom Tonkin
Principal, Change Management and
Transformation Thought Leadership
& Advisory Services
Dr. Tonkin is an executive in Professional Services and
Software Sales arena and has over 25 years of business and
technology experience. Prior to joining CSOD, Dr. Tonkin was
the CEO and Co-Founder of the Sales Conservatory where he
specialized in helping sales leaders that have revenue
generation responsibility between $5M and $1B and are looking
for a trusted advisor to guide them to materially increase
revenue . He spent 19 years of his career at Oracle Corporation
as the Senior Director of the Sales Performance Group in
Oracle’s Global Sales Academy. Dr. Tonkin is also a speaker at
leadership and business conferences where he also presents
throughout the year.

4.
Guess What?
Yes, another story

5.
Stress – Definition1
Stress - /stres/
noun
a state of mental or emotional strain or tension
resulting from adverse or very demanding
circumstances.
"he's obviously under a lot of stress”
synonyms: strain, pressure, (nervous) tension, worry,
anxiety, trouble, difficulty; informal hassle"he's under
a lot of stress"
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6.
Is it fair to say that the
Healthcare industry is
under a lot of stress?
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7.
“Workplace stress in nursing: a literature review”
• A comprehensive study by Andrew McVicar BSc
PhD
• Spans all stress related research in nursing from
1985 – 2003.

8.
Lets be real - What is burnout? – Really.
• Stress - Defined from a ‘demand perception’ point
of view1
• Perception of demands placed on them
• Perception of their ability to meet those demands
• It is the mismatch that induces stress
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Financial Stress Emotional
Stress
Physical Stress

9.
Three types of stress
• eu·stress - /yo͞oˈstres/ (noun)2
• moderate or normal psychological stress interpreted as
being beneficial for the experiencer
• dis·tress - /dəˈstres/(noun)3
• extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain. "to his distress he saw
that she was trembling” synonyms: anguish, suffering,
pain, agony, torment, heartache, heartbreak.
• Severe distress (Burnout)
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10.
What does it look like?1
Eustress Distress Severe Distress (i.e.
Burnout)
Psychological • Fear
• Excitement
• Unease
• Sadness
• Depression
• Emotional Exhaustion
• Disengagement
• Decreased Personal
Accomplishment
Physiological • Increased
Blood
Pressure
• Increased
heart rate
• Increased
metabolic
rate
• Persistent
elevated
blood
pressure
• Indigestion
• Weight gain
or Loss
• Clinical Hypertension
• Coronary Heart
disease
• Gastric disorders
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11.
Stress Causes
• Workload/inadequate/staff cover/time pressure
• Relationship with other clinical staff
• Leadership and management style/poor locus of
control/poor group cohesion/lack of adequate
supervisory support
• Coping with emotional needs of patients and their
families/ poor patient diagnosis/death and dying
• Shift working
• Lack of reward
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12.
Current Issues
• There is disagreement as to the magnitude of their impact.
• These vary from institution to institution
• Interventions are targeted at some of these sources,
however, their effectiveness is likely to be limited, at least in
the short to medium term.
• These are lagging indicators, not leading indicators, treat them as
such
• Individuals must be supported better, but this is hindered by
lack of understanding of how sources of stress vary
between different practice areas, lack of predictive power of
assessment tools, and a lack of understanding of how
personal and workplace factors interact.
• Number one solution is prevetnion
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13.
Okay, what should WE do?
• Cross-training… Critical path staff...
Workload/inadequate/staff cover/time
pressure
• Celebrate events, even during shiftsRelationship with other clinical staff
• New performance management trend discussion
• CEO walks around the floor (night shift)
• #AskMary example … => follow-up is key
Leadership and management style/poor
locus of control/poor group
cohesion/lack of adequate supervisory
support
• Dressed up staff, taking pictures etc…
• Pet therapy as an example
Coping with emotional needs of patients
and their families/ poor patient
diagnosis/death and dying
• The financial rewards hurts performance…Shift working
• Does not need to be money…Lack of reward
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14.
Summary
• Healthcare Staff is under continuous distress which
is the definition of severe distress or burnout.
• Stress can be good or bad (or REALLY bad). Its is
a very real phenomenon.
• To prevent stress, we must understand the entire
continuum (eustress, distress, severe distress).
• There are six identified causes for stress in
healthcare institutions.
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15.
Thank You All for Attending
and Listening

16.
References
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