Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, the chief of critical care at Texas Children’s Hospital reached out to the University of Houston to conduct a “needs assessment” for Baylor College of Medicine faculty who are staffed in the Pediatric Critical Care section at TCH.
“The goal of the project was to assess employee well-being, engagement, fulfillment, motivation, and job performance and make recommendations to the chief regarding what learning and professional development programs may be needed to improve some of these measures among the medical professionals,” said Tomika Greer, assistant professor of human resource development.
Once the pandemic hit, their project had to change focus. They began to assess burnout and morale in the Critical Care Facility. Greer and her team used surveys and focus groups to discuss the effects of COVID-19, how to reduce burnout and how to recover from the pandemic personally and professionally.
According to Greer, this research could provide a framework for other pediatric care facilities to implement measures to reduce burnout, increase employee engagement and support the well-being and needs of faculty physicians, especially as the pandemic continues.
“My research team also gave recommendations on how to implement a return-to-work strategy as faculty physicians are expected to reduce their time working at home and return to the worksite,” Greer said.
Greer received a $20,000 grant from the Baylor College of Medicine to cover the cost of research time, equipment and resources used for this project.
Next, Greer plans to take what she’s learned from this project and further apply it to the academic and career impacts of COVID-19. Her focus will be marginalized and underrepresented groups in the Houston area.
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