Maslows Hierarchy and Motivating Mental Health Staff

Abstract

Employees often lack motivation in the workplace. When employee’s needs are not sufficiently addressed, they usually are not motivated. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are needs that must be met in a particular order. From bottom up, the needs in Maslow’s hierarchy are physiological, safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. Lower-level needs must be met before high level needs can become motivators. Maslow’s first hierarchy of needs at the lowest level are the physiological needs. This is the lowest level of the hierarchy. Examples of these needs are things such as hunger, thirst, and sleep CITE1. Once an individual has fulfilled these fundamental needs, they will be sustained, and only driven by their needs at the next higher level. The next level up is the esteem needs. This level includes the need for accomplishments, status, and power. Maslow emphasizes that this level considers both one’s own and other people’s regard for oneself. The top level is self-actualization. Self-actualized individuals are fulfilled and have reached their full potential. Self-actualization is essentially the drive to turn one’s sense of self into reality. In the scenario of a director, Dr. Nunez at a mental health hospital for children, employees provide care for adolescent patients battling psychological issues. Dr. Nunez has observed a decrease in her employees’ motivation. Staff’s motivation has begun to suffer because of the emotional strain of caring for vulnerable children and the demanding nature of being present at work. Dr. Nunez is aware of how critical it is to take action in order to protect the health of her staff member and the patients they support. Working at the hospital is a demanding job, where there is constant mandatory overtime where employees have to work 16 hour shifts. This can interfere with their sleep schedules and eating patterns which...