Other Titles
PechaKucha Presentation
Abstract
With COVID-19, public health measures were adopted to prevent transmission in the workplace. As a consequence, the work environment changed with video conferencing utilized not as a novelty, but a necessity. The use of video conferencing is now routine, with 300 million daily meeting participants and ‘zoom fatigue’ a reality. Workplace culture shifted to virtual communication; however, little is known regarding the psychological impact, limiting personal engagement and collaboration and altering work relationships due to its silo effect.
The World Health Organization (WHO) provides a healthy workplace framework to protect and promote the well-being of workers by considering concerns of the psychosocial work environment, including workplace culture. Interpersonal interaction is transformed by video conferencing with additional cognitive effort needed to navigate technology and complexities of modified verbal and nonverbal behavior.
A needs assessment was performed to evaluate the nursing staff development (NSD) employee’s position on continued use of video conferencing, with findings indicating the need to incorporate more in-person meetings and activities. Potential solutions to address the gap is to provide in person staff meetings, an NSD ‘Happy Hour’, a HWE share-point, and a consistent recognition system to celebrate employee contributions.
The primary purpose of this project is to evaluate the effect of implementing in-person HWE initiatives on the NSD employee’s work-related quality of life. The initiatives focus on implementing face-to-face engagement opportunities to improve communication and collaboration and overall wellbeing in the workplace.
To evaluate success, the employee’s experience at work and overall self-reported quality of working life will be measured with the Work-Related Quality of Life Scale-2 (WRQoL-2). The HWE Committee will administer the WRQoL-2 pre- and post-intervention. In addition, qualitative information will be collected post-intervention on attitudes toward initiatives to provide supporting context.
Providing a healthy and inclusive workplace environment where employees feel valued and empowered is fundamental in supporting a sustainable workforce and a cultural environment of care. The goal of this project is to contribute meaningfully to practice by developing potential solutions to barriers related to video conferencing and virtual applications; how to overcome silos and improve employees’ work experience and wellbeing.
Notes
References: Deniz, M. E., Satici, S. A., Doenyas, C., & Griffiths, M. D. (2022). Zoom fatigue, psychological distress, life satisfaction, and academic well-being. Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 25(5), 270–277. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2021.0249
Karl, K. A., Peluchette, J. V., & Aghakhani, N. (2022). Virtual work meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic: The good, bad, and ugly. Small Group Research, 53(3), 343–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/10464964211015286
Riedl R. (2022). On the stress potential of videoconferencing: definition and root causes of Zoom fatigue. Electronic Markets, 32(1), 153–177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-021-00501-3
UK Healthcare. (2024). About UK Healthcare. https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/about.
Van Laar, D., Edwards, J., & Easton, S. (2007). The work-related quality of life scale for healthcare workers. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 60(3), 235-358. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04409.x
Webb, M. (2021). Zoom fatigue and how to prevent it. Journal of Registry Management, 48(4), 181–182. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10198405/pdf/jrm-48-181.pdf
World Health Organization & Burton, J. (2010). WHO healthy workplace framework and model: background and supporting literature and practices. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/113144
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Interprofessional Initiatives, Sustainable Development Goals, Stress, Coping
Recommended Citation
Bentley, Rachel; O'Dell, Crystal; and Richardson, Amy, "Communication Post-COVID: Overcoming Silos to Improve Workplace Collaboration and Well-Being" (2025). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 77.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2025/presentations_2025/77
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Communication Post-COVID: Overcoming Silos to Improve Workplace Collaboration and Well-Being
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
With COVID-19, public health measures were adopted to prevent transmission in the workplace. As a consequence, the work environment changed with video conferencing utilized not as a novelty, but a necessity. The use of video conferencing is now routine, with 300 million daily meeting participants and ‘zoom fatigue’ a reality. Workplace culture shifted to virtual communication; however, little is known regarding the psychological impact, limiting personal engagement and collaboration and altering work relationships due to its silo effect.
The World Health Organization (WHO) provides a healthy workplace framework to protect and promote the well-being of workers by considering concerns of the psychosocial work environment, including workplace culture. Interpersonal interaction is transformed by video conferencing with additional cognitive effort needed to navigate technology and complexities of modified verbal and nonverbal behavior.
A needs assessment was performed to evaluate the nursing staff development (NSD) employee’s position on continued use of video conferencing, with findings indicating the need to incorporate more in-person meetings and activities. Potential solutions to address the gap is to provide in person staff meetings, an NSD ‘Happy Hour’, a HWE share-point, and a consistent recognition system to celebrate employee contributions.
The primary purpose of this project is to evaluate the effect of implementing in-person HWE initiatives on the NSD employee’s work-related quality of life. The initiatives focus on implementing face-to-face engagement opportunities to improve communication and collaboration and overall wellbeing in the workplace.
To evaluate success, the employee’s experience at work and overall self-reported quality of working life will be measured with the Work-Related Quality of Life Scale-2 (WRQoL-2). The HWE Committee will administer the WRQoL-2 pre- and post-intervention. In addition, qualitative information will be collected post-intervention on attitudes toward initiatives to provide supporting context.
Providing a healthy and inclusive workplace environment where employees feel valued and empowered is fundamental in supporting a sustainable workforce and a cultural environment of care. The goal of this project is to contribute meaningfully to practice by developing potential solutions to barriers related to video conferencing and virtual applications; how to overcome silos and improve employees’ work experience and wellbeing.
Description
Quarantine; a pandemic felt around the world, resulting in restricted social interaction and the replacement of personal communication with video conferencing platforms. The primary purpose of this project is to evaluate the effect of implementing in-person HWE initiatives on the NSD employee’s work-related quality of life. This presentation provides potential solutions on how to break down barriers in the workplace, how to overcome silos and improve employee collaboration and overall well-being.