Humor Matters in Healthcare

Let’s face it, when someone goes into the hospital, it’s a not an easy time. Stress levels aren’t just high for the patient and his family; doctors and nurses deal with stress daily from the physical labor demands to the work hours to the demands of the family and patient. Research findings support that multiple stressors not only cause physical symptoms, like high blood pressure and depression, but also reduced job satisfaction, which in turn leads to low employee morale.

Let’s face it, when someone goes into the hospital, it’s a not an easy time. Stress levels aren’t just high for the patient and his family; doctors and nurses deal with stress daily from the physical labor demands to the work hours to the demands of the family and patient. Research findings support that multiple stressors not only cause physical symptoms, like high blood pressure and depression, but also reduced job satisfaction, which in turn leads to low employee morale.

That’s why it is important to add humor and laughter into the hospital environment. This can make an often-difficult job much easier and enjoyable. Laughter can increase efficiency, reduce errors and give employees a greater sense of enjoyment and job satisfaction.

One way to add humor to the workplace is with social media. Not only can it provide a place for employees to communicate with each other, but it can also help put smiles on their faces. Here are a few ideas:

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• Hold a Pinterest contest where employees create boards from funny health-related pins that they find on the web. Boards similar to this from Howard Medical is one example. Have employees vote for their favorite board. The board with the most votes wins a gift.

• Encourage various departments to create funny videos on their day-to-day activities and post on YouTube. This will get entire departments involved and provide motivation to have fun during their shifts.

• Create Bitstrips or Pixton comic strips and post to your facility’s Facebook page and internal website. These programs are great for creating engagement and will get employees and fans of your page laughing and smiling.

Working in a healthcare facility is a tough job. Adding humor and creating fun ways to interact on a daily basis can help make the job more motivational and enjoyable for everyone.