Kudos to UCSF

In my quest to look for extraordinary service to both internal and external customers, a piece about a unique employee program caught my eye.

Staff at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCSF often feel stressed and emotionally drained. No surprise. Dealing with those who are chronically and terminally ill can be rewarding, and at the same time, exhausting.

Cynthia Perlis, director of UCSF Art for Recovery Program brought an idea to Gerrie Shields, administrative director of the Cancer Center. Her goal was to do something for the frontline people who are bombarded with loss on a daily basis.

The result: The Employee Well-Being Project where staff could feel cared for in a community that would also provide workshops to sustain them throughout the year. The program has not only improved morale, it has provided them with additional tools to cope with the stress they encounter daily.

Four different themed workshops are held quarterly, with each one hour workshop repeated six times on different days of the week to accommodate everybody’s schedule. Past themes have included creating journals, yoga that can be practiced at work, breathing techniques, Hawaiian songs and chants, and the favorite expressed by many: finding humor on the job.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive. Attendees have commented on the benefits of this brief respite in terms of decreased stress, the opportunity to bond with others and the ability to express themselves.

“They not only derived benefits from the workshops themselves, but also succeeded in building a greater sense of teamwork as a consequence of their interaction,” says Cynthia Perlis.

When staff members can return to their work stations feeling relaxed and heard, everybody wins—the employee, the patients and their family members, AND the hospital. Kudos to UCSF for putting people first.