As a healthcare administrator, you value the incredible skill and work ethic of your critical care physicians and nurses — but do they know that?

A study from the American College of Chest Physicians found that up to 71% of critical care doctors and 86% of critical care nurses experience some form of work-related burnout. When a healthcare organization communicates appreciation for the physical and emotional health of their best and brightest through concrete and helpful strategies, it can make a huge difference in terms of bringing those numbers down.

Here are five ways you can immediately and effectively communicate better with your critical care staff, providing them with the resources they need to feel better and do better on the job:

Tell them you expect them to ask for help.

Many physicians and nurses don't speak up when they feel overwhelmed because they worry that asking for support will stymie their efforts to get promoted.

Inform your critical care staff that needing help is normal, and that you expect and encourage them to let you know if they want assistance like counseling or debriefing after stressful or traumatic ward experiences.

Offer backup mentors.

Researchers from USC Health Sciences report that two-thirds of brain surgeons will suffer the effects of severe stress during their training. Bad, overly harsh, or inadequate amounts of mentoring is one major cause of why this can happen.

Coordinate a system in which each of your residents has a primary mentor and a "secondary" mentor —for example, a fellow with whom each resident can feel more comfortable talking to as a peer.

Mediate multidisciplinary team issues early.

Don't let your physicians experience severe stress over team disagreements or strained relationships — the last thing you want them to feel is a lack of concern about these and other issues from hospital administration. Check in with your chief residents/supervisors regularly about interpersonal issues on your floors and intervene immediately with a team meeting when you're informed of these kinds of problems.

Encourage time off.

Research from the European Society of Medical Oncology found that more than 70% of young oncologists in Europe experience symptoms of burnout due to long hours, watching patients suffer, and a crushing workload.

Your critical care team needs time to decompress; be vocal about the fact you want them to take it. Be scrupulous about duty hours and as generous with vacation policy as you can be. Let your staff know you want to be as flexible as possible in letting them choose how they want to schedule their time away from the hospital.

Utter these six simple words.

Make a point of conversationally asking your staff members, "How are you doing? Be honest." Saying this with an encouraging smile will relieve the mind of a struggling, stressed-out critical caregiver instantly and make that caregiver feel comfortable sharing openly with you.

Do this often, then really listen — it will make a huge difference for your staff and, ultimately, for your patients’ care!