“Are you okay?”
It may seem like a simple question, but it isn’t always easy to answer. It’s also something we aren’t asking each other enough.
That’s the premise of R U OK?Day: an event started by an Australian nonprofit to encourage us to check in with the people around us and to have open discussions about how things are really going.
The TUH-Episcopal Campus Nursing Council—led by Lois Scipione, MSN, NPD-BC, AVP of Nursing Education, Magnet & Professional Practice—is always looking for ways to support employee wellbeing. When they heard about R U OK?Day, they decided to bring it to the hospital as a staff event.
“Nurse Manager Marcus Appolon, BSN, RN, PMH-BC suggested that we join forces with our campus’ therapy team to do something really positive for our staff,” explains Nurse Manager Michelle Maag, RN, BSN.
“You always hear, ‘You don’t know what somebody else is going through until you ask,’” says Nurse Manager Lisa Hummel, DNP, PMH-BC, RN.
One Call Makes a Difference
On the day of the event, organizers and hospital leadership went unit-by-unit to tell employees about R U OK?Day. They also let them know about various activities around campus, including prize wheels—which were a huge hit.
“The prize wheels were Lexi’s idea,” says Hummel. “She was the star of the event.”
“A lot of the work we do is about breaking the stigma around mental health and understanding the importance of support,” explains Behavioral Health Therapist Alexandria “Lexi” Thomas-Muhammad, NCC. “That’s why I created prize wheels with a couple of different prompts. If the wheel landed on “Call,” you had to call someone right on the spot and ask them if they were okay. If it landed on “Text,” you had to do the same thing via text. If you accepted the challenge, you would get a prize and wear a big “Approved” sticker. It was about asking us to dig deeper and connect with somebody on a deeper level.”
“I had one employee who landed on “Call,” and he put his phone on speaker and called his cousin,” Thomas-Muhammad continues. “After he talked to his cousin, the cousin said, ‘Wow, I really needed this.’ Just imagine if he hadn’t called. A simple check-in can do so much for anyone—on every day of the year, not just R U OK?Day.”
A Culture of Support
The Episcopal team members who organized the event were thrilled to see the positive response from their fellow employees.
“I saw so many people wearing their ‘Approved’ stickers, which was awesome,” says Maag. “And I kept getting texts from coworkers throughout the day asking if I was okay.”
“We know a culture where we can have these kinds of conversations is so important, but we’re responsible for creating it,” Thomas-Muhammad adds. “That’s why it’s great that everyone was so engaged. We’re also really lucky to have a leadership team that’s committed to building this kind of open culture.”
Caring for Our Patients and Ourselves
R U OK?Day was so successful that the team is already planning for next year. In the meantime, they’re focused on encouraging staff to continue checking in on their coworkers and loved ones, and sharing resources about how to have conversations.
“The nonprofit behind R U OK?Day has a lot of materials on how to ask follow-up questions and provide support, especially when someone tells us that they aren’t doing well,” explains Briana Stinson, LCSW, Episcopal’s Director of Therapeutic Programming.
“Our staff do such critical work, especially around mental health,” she continues. “They do so much for our patients, and it’s just as important that they’re taking care of themselves.”