Supporting Stress Management in the Health Care Workplace

Content below was developed by Nhi Luu, Canadian Mental Health Association

Stress and stress management in the workplace have long been topics of interest for both employers and employees. We often hear that stress is unavoidable and expected when it comes to employment, but for health care professionals the degree of chronic stress endured throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is an issue that deserves concentrated attention and thoughtful response.

Health Care Workers face unique occupational stressors consistent with experiences of grief and loss related to exposure to human suffering and death, moral conflict and distress, health, and safety risks from hazardous exposures, long and inflexible work hours, job role ambiguity with redeployment practices and staffing shortages, as well as overall demanding work often without sufficient resources. All these and other compounding factors have escalated since the onset of the pandemic and exacerbated stress levels resulting in poor mental health for Health Care Workers.