WHS uses serenity room to help with COVID stress
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
The door to the Washington Hospital’s Serenity Room is decorated with a handmade sign by a hospital health-care worker.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
The Serenity Room on Washington Hospital’s critical care unit is decorated with soothing images taken by WHS President and CEO Brook Ward. Healthcare staff have used the room for respite and comfort throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
A health-care worker enjoys a moment of respite from the exhausting duties of the critical care unit in a massage chair, located in Washington Hospital’s Serenity Room. The room was added to the CCU after the pandemic began as a quiet space for nurses and staff to collect themselves on trying days.
There aren’t any beeping monitors or noisy machines in one particular room at Washington Health System Washington Hospital.
Called The Serenity Room, the space has been designed to offer caregivers at the hospital a peaceful respite during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We know that the last two years have been extremely difficult on health-care workers and frontline staff across the nation. We have also seen it firsthand in our health system,” said Karen Bray, vice president of Patient Care Services.
Bray noted how WHS staff members have stepped up to take extra shifts amid a nationwide hospital staff shortage, and acknowledged that throughout the pandemic, oftentimes they have been the ones holding the hands of dying patients and comforting their family members.
The Serenity Room, which opened its doors to employees in December, is located on the Critical Care Unit floor.
The suite is furnished with a sound-proof lounge that includes a massage chair, scented diffuser, and a sound machine.
In a separate, adjacent kitchenette, health-care workers can enjoy lunch or a snack during their break time.
From the moment nurses and staff open the door, the room emanates calmness – a feeling that is very different from the often-chaotic CCU during the pandemic.
“(The staff) needs a place to decompress, instead of running into a bathroom to deal with something stressful and then having to come back out and still take care of patients after they’ve just gone through something really traumatic,” said nurse Shellie Popeck, director of CCU. “Sometimes, it’s just that you’re having a really bad day. All of the pressure from the pandemic builds up.”
Funds to complete the Serenity Room were provided by an anonymous donor. The benefactor also is making a donation to build similar rooms in WHS Greene and in the Washington Hospital emergency department.
“We are striving to find new ways to support our team members physically, mentally and emotionally,” said Bray.
The hospital has implemented other initiatives with an emphasis on self-care, including visits from therapy dogs, a peer support group, on-site massages, sound bath sessions at WHS Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center, and additional outdoor seating for lunch and breaks.