Ashley Eddings
Manager of Clinical Support at Wambi

We are now almost five months into the COVID-19 global pandemic and the virus is still very real and very present. As a wife and daughter of healthcare workers, someone who has worked in healthcare for a decade, and New Yorker, I’m elated to know that we’ve flattened the curve, but I am wholly aware that we must remain diligent to stop the spread. Many states are seeing record-number increases in virus cases and hospitals and staff continue to be taxed by the influx of patients. If we’re honest, the last four months have looked rather bleak in terms of eradicating the virus.

COVID-19 swiftly and abruptly took over our daily lives as we once knew it. The more people I speak to, the more I realize that none of us were truly prepared for this reality we’re now living in. People are scared and unnerved by the unknowns of the virus and what the future will look like. People have lost and continue to lose loved ones to COVID-19 and are grieving. Essential workers, including our healthcare workers, feel stretched thin and are emotionally drained. Employees are fearfully trickling back into physical workplaces instead of the safety of their homes, while others have lost employment because of the pandemic. And even with some re-openings, many events we hold dear are being postponed or canceled altogether. There is a lot of loss, anxiety, confusion, fear, and instability that everyone can identify with at some level. Knowing this, consider the following question: “How can I make the load lighter for someone and be a light for them given the times we’re in?” One way we can do so is with empathy. It is free, and it is powerful.

Placing ourselves in the proverbial shoes of another can be difficult to do for some. However, research shows the benefits of doing so. Cherry (2020) explains that:

“Listening to others, engaging in acts of service, observing the empathetic actions of others, and imagining yourself in another person’s situation are all strategies that can help build empathy” (para. 6).

In these challenging times, people want to be heard and know that someone else simply cares.

Consider the following five ways we can practice empathy (Cherry, 2020):

1. Stay connected: Social distancing has caused many to feel isolated. Without the physical presence of loved ones and friends, it can feel lonely, even with advanced technologies. However, when we reach out to others, perhaps in non-traditional ways such as a handwritten letter, it can be just what we need to feel connected in a greater capacity.
2. Be aware: The general reality that we can all accept is that we are experiencing life right now in a pandemic. Nonetheless, everyone has been impacted differently during these times. Employment, finances, childcare, schooling, and the like, have been significantly impacted, yet not everyone has experienced each impact firsthand. Finding ways to be there for someone who is struggling in a specific area, even if you cannot relate directly, may be the encouragement they need to keep going. Be aware that everyone is dealing with something and learn how you can best show empathy and support.
3. Be kind: Tensions and emotions are undoubtedly high, and everyone deals with stress and uncertainty differently. We must extend kindness and compassion to others and to ourselves. COVID-19 continues to test us all. Being kind is a surefire way to ease the pressure.
4. Help: One of the best ways to stay connected, look outwardly, use awareness, and extend kindness is to look where you can help. There are many ways in which one can help during these unprecedented times. If you are in the position to do so, consider making a meal for an elderly neighbor or an essential worker. Offer to help a vulnerable loved one with their errands so they don’t have to risk venturing out. Write a note of gratitude to someone who is having a particularly difficult time. See a need and meet the need if it is in your ability to do so.
5. Allow for vulnerability: Rebecca Metter, CEO of Wambi, explains that COVID-19 has “created a shared experience of vulnerability around our basic need of feeling safe. This has equipped the general population with the ability to now truly feel compassion for others who are met with challenges around their own most critical basic needs and, as a result, fostered an environment which is accepting of people sharing their own feelings of vulnerability”. Since the pandemic, more and more people are beginning to share raw, honest feelings and can be vulnerable with one another. The adage, “we’re all in this together”, couldn’t be truer as everyone has been affected in some way. Allow yourself and others the space for vulnerability during these times. We could all benefit from openness and bearing with one another.

When you finish reading this, contemplate ways in which you can practice empathy with your colleagues, loved ones, and even yourself. Displaying empathy is something that is bound to brighten even the most uncertain times we’re living in. It could be the positive shift you and someone else need while continuing to navigate the road ahead.

Cherry, K. (2020). How to practice empathy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-practice-empathy-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-4800924

Metter, R. (2020, April 24). Email with Metter.

Dr. Bonnie Clipper and Dr. Julie Rennecker, Founder and Chief Catalyst at Syzygy Teams, chat about three things nurses should keep in mind during these turbulent times: appreciate yourself and all you bring to the table, play to your strengths, and practice active self-care.

To learn more about Dr. Julie Renneker, visit:

• Syzygy Teams – The Official Website
• Follow @julrenneker on Twitter
• Connect with Julie Renneker on LinkedIn

There’s more to explore in Wambi world! Click here to subscribe and keep your pulse on what we’re doing in the healthcare engagement space with thought leaders and the inspiring realm of employee recognition and gratitude.

The Gut+Science Healthcare Series, sponsored by Wambi, brings the best influencers and leaders in healthcare to share best practices, stories, and lessons to build stronger people-first healthcare institutions.

Dr. Dan Weberg is a disruptor innovator who gets fired up about breaking the cycle of toxic leadership in the healthcare industry. As a nurse leader, an expert in human-centered patient design, and the author of the first book of its kind, “Evidence-based Innovation Leadership for Health Professionals,” today’s topic is one he knows well.

1. Leadership behaviors are as impactful to patient outcomes as medical errors
   Supporting Quote:
   Dr. Dan Weberg: [6:38] “Patient mortality increased and patient morbidity increased and, and so did errors. And that was directly tied back to this idea of a transactional toxic leader. One that, you know, holds a carrot out for good behavior in the stick when there’s bad behavior. And they were showing that patients were dying more on floors that were led by toxic leaders.”
2. Toxic leadership can be intentional or unintentional, but either way needs to stop.
   Supporting Quotes:
   Dr. Dan Weberg: [8:25] “The unintentional side is a symptom of the fact that we don’t train and treat leadership as a, as a practice like we do nursing medicine, you know, other professions, right? So, you know, there’s very intentional training to become a clinician, but there’s very little intentional training to become a leader.”
   Dr. Dan Weberg: [10:35] “Toxic leadership is really where you got to kind of get rid of people because that’s where it’s, it’s this kind of focus on power and control.”
3. Teams experiencing toxic leadership have a 78% burnout rate and report decreased commitment to their organizations.
   Supporting Quote:
   Dr. Dan Weberg [12:41] “[Toxic Leadership] It 100% leads to burnout. We can’t help patients be healthy if we don’t have a healthy culture in which to deliver that care.”

Evidence-based Innovation Leadership for Health Professionals by Dan Weberg and Sandra Davidson – Buy Here.

In collaboration with Wambi, the Gut + Science Podcast Healthcare Series hosted by Nikki Lewellen, Director of Partnerships at Wambi, highlights accomplished, people-first healthcare CEOs (and executives) that share their powerful mindsets, experiences and tools that have helped them succeed. The show encompasses all areas of human capital at work and the successful best practices that breed healthy, engaged organizations.

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