Stress management in staff supporting electronic health record transitions: A novel approach

Abstract

Objective: To describe novel methods of stress management for support staff during electronic health record transition.

Methods: During the electronic health record transition, a variety of Integrative stress management offerings were made available to the support staff. Participants were surveyed regarding stress pre and post intervention on a scale of 1-10.

Results: 450 members of the support staff were eligible and 151 surveys were returned. The chair massage was the most utilized offering for which results were analyzed. Pre-intervention average stress was reported at 7.4, and the post-intervention stress levels were 3.6, a reduction of 51% which was statistically significant (p<0.001).

Discussion: We recommend that stress management resources be available during all EHR implementations and transitions. These management resources should be discussed during the planning phase, and the resources should be tailored to the time available to the staff to step away from their desks, and space restrictions.

Keywords: EHR implementation; Stress management.