By Lauren Johnson
The Emotional Wellness Program at Children’s of Alabama was established in 2010 to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue among hospital employees. Over the past 16 years, Lou Lacey, LPC, the in-house counselor and director of the program, has seen firsthand the positive effects these counseling services have had on employees’ mental health and on staff retention.
Lacey has over 40 years of experience in counseling, and she has spent the last 27 years at Children’s of Alabama. Prior to her role as the director of the Emotional Wellness Program, she served as the director of the Child Abuse Center at Children’s, providing counseling for victims of trauma including sexual assault survivors and victims of child abuse.
“I was doing the front-line work with victims, and I was also supervising the people who were doing that front-line work – the counselors, social workers, nurses and doctors. I really came to understand and appreciate that these things can cause burnout and compassion fatigue,” Lacey said.
She saw that there was a lack of support available for these employees who faced devastating situations daily. This created an ongoing cycle of emotional exhaustion that frequently led employees to resign.
“We decided to create this position so that I’m an on-site counselor who provides counseling for anyone who works here, whether you work in the cafeteria, you’re at the bedside or you’re in administration,” Lacey said. “We recognize that everyone who works here is impacted by what happens here.”
These counseling serves are free and confidential for all employees of Children’s of Alabama. The Emotional Wellness Program is a service to provide support and give these front-line workers an opportunity to talk about the difficult things they witness.
“The people that work here are drawn to work here because they want to play a part in helping to ease the pain and suffering of children who have either been injured or ill. They want to be part of the solution,” Lacey said.
She provides counseling in one-on-one sessions, in teams, or in departments. At Children’s, group debriefings are usually scheduled after an overwhelming or difficult case. This provides the caregivers an outlet to process the situation and to find support.
Lacey also provides education through seminars, talking about compassion fatigue prevention, burnout prevention and conflict resolution.
“Most people who work here are not afraid of hard work and they’re not afraid of coming into contact with these really sad situations, but it’s when they can no longer see that their hard work is making a difference that they may struggle. A lot of what I try to do is reconnect them with knowing that their efforts do make a difference,” she said.
Mental health is just as important as physical health, especially when it comes to the mentally taxing roles of healthcare providers and hospital workers. Going through it alone makes it more difficult, which is why Lacey encourages these front-line workers to take advantage of the counseling services.
“This is an amazing place to work. We love it and we’re committed to this place, but it’s also a hard place to work,” she said. “You only have to walk down the halls to be impacted by the situations that you see in front of you.”
Over the years, Lacey has seen a decrease in the stigma associated with getting help and receiving counseling, as it’s become more socially acceptable and people are generally more open to coming forward and sharing what they’re struggling with. Lacey hopes to see more hospitals replicate this program.
Children’s of Alabama employees can simply schedule a session by emailing lou.lacey@childrensal.org. Every appointment is confidential. Nothing discussed is repeated and supervisors are not notified.
“I’m not a revenue producer,” she said. “I don’t make money for the hospital, but I think I save the hospital money, because if we have services in place like this, our hope is that people won’t leave if they’re struggling with the emotional content of being here. We want people to be here for a long time.”
She hopes to continue providing strength, encouragement and support to employees, helping them endure difficult shifts or work-related stress and helping them to continue providing compassionate care for the patients who come in the door.