The wait to see a doctor can be frustrating for both the individual and the company they work for. This is particularly true if they need that medical opinion before they can go back to work. The frustration only grows when other medical or specialist opinions are needed. All of this stress can be removed through staff absence management.
Sickness absence management is not just about reducing the number of individuals that need to take sick leave. It is also about ensuring they get the proper care and treatment quickly when it is needed. This approach has three main benefits, firstly early medical intervention with someone experienced in MSN FNP often means that illness and injuries are caught early and conditions treated before symptoms escalate and become more serious.
Secondly, reducing waiting time for an opinion, particularly about returning to work, reduces the amount of time lost at work unnecessarily.
Thirdly, getting the person back to work quicker, without endangering their health or wellbeing, reduces the stress and workload on the remaining staff, making them less likely to need sick leave. This, combined with work-based health assessments and health led work environments makes a real difference to sickness and absentee levels.
Understanding corporate wellness from this perspective shows how a little investment in terms of time and money, can improve outcomes all round in the long term.
Developing A Can-Do Attitude
If your company is one of the many that are affected by the approximately 140 million working days that are lost to sickness and injury every year, then you could benefit from a sickness and absence management program. One of the key elements of such programs is to aid in developing a ‘can do’ attitude.
A ‘can do’ attitude towards sickness and absence may sound strange, but it is a simple idea that focuses on what staff are able to do, rather than on what they can’t. The idea behind it is to cut the amount of time that any individual is absent through sickness or injury by making changes to either the working environment or their daily tasks. In doing so you work with their strengths and allow them to be a functioning part of your team, without adding to their problems or causing additional stress to them or their work colleagues.
For this type of corporate wellness program to work effectively, it needs everyone to be involved fully from the beginning, and for open and honest communication between employee and employer from the first day of sickness. This communication needs to be retained where absence is unavoidable and support given to the employee to allow them to return to work sooner. This support can take many forms including offering physiotherapy and psychological therapy where appropriate.
Sickness absence management is not about rushing individuals back into the working environment before they are ready. It is instead about creating a better workplace, that focuses on the strengths of your team and provides the right support at the right time.
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