Work-related stress has increased for health care workers—specifically since the COVID-19 pandemic—and psychologists widely agree there is mounting evidence that society is experiencing the psychological impacts of a collective trauma. At Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, a new well-being coach is now available to help staff unload some of their mental burdens and de-stress.
A 2021 employee survey showed high levels of stress and burnout due to the pandemic at Lancaster General Health. In response, a burnout taskforce was formed to address the problem. One of the strategies this team implemented was hiring a well-being coach to meet with employees to not only discuss work stress, like intense patient traumas they encounter, but also non-work-related stressors like finances, relationships, recovering from surgery—whatever could be causing them hardship.
Steven Fetrow-Keihl started in November 2022 as a part-time employee well-being coach through Quest Behavioral Health, and became a full-time Penn Medicine employee with the title of advanced well-being coach in August 2024. As a therapist, he lists three specializations: traumas, relationships, and addictions.
“Health care workers have a culture and dialogue that’s specific to them, uniquely different than the outside world, and a culture that frequently goes without,” Keihl says.
Employee interactions range from five-minute hallway check-ins to 10-miute private meetups with an employee navigating a personal or professional distress, to scheduled consultations of half an hour or more at any Lancaster General Health location or virtually via Teams. On average, Keihl completes 60 check-ins and about 10 consultations on a weekly basis.
Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health are often called the pillars of well-being. Keihl would agree that individuals need to care for all these elements to achieve balance in their lives—and he has tactics to support them in his own life.
Moving forward, Keihl would like to launch a peer support group by identifying and training team members to be his “boots on the ground” well-being warriors. He would identify members within teams and train them to intervene when needed for the department. This way, there would be real-time support before Keihl has a full debrief with the team.
This story is by Olivia Kimmel. Read more at Penn Medicine News.
