Society and Culture – Clinician Well-Being Knowledge Hub

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Culture Survey

NAM — Tue, 11 Jan 2022 15:19:30 +0000

Healthcare organizations can use these survey assessment tools to raise staff awareness about patient safety, assess the current status of patient safety culture, and identify strengths and areas for patient safety culture improvement.

Conversation and Action Guide to Support Staff Well-Being and Joy in Work during and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

NAM — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 15:02:19 +0000

This resource is intended to help leaders guide conversations with colleagues to provide and elicit needed information and problem-solving to ensure staff well-being and the best care possible, and to use this time during the COVID-19 pandemic to break unnecessary rules and build more robust systems.

Success Story: COMPASS Groups Rejuvenate Relationships and Reduce Burnout

NAM — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 15:00:40 +0000

Learn how CO��𲹲��ܱ��Meeting to P��ǳ��ǳٱ��A�Ի��S�ܲ��ٲ��Satisfaction (COMPASS) groups build a sense of community to reduce burnout and distress felt by isolated physicians.

Preventing Physician Suicide: Identify and Support At-Risk Physicians

NAM — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 14:34:29 +0000

Although the information in this toolkit may be applicable to other clinical team members, the focus is on physicians’ vulnerability and treatment needs. Taking proactive steps to identify and address physician distress can help to ensure the well-being of physicians, reduce the risk of suicide, and support patient care by protecting the health of the physician workforce.

“What Matters to You” Conversation Guide for Improving Joy in Work

NAM — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 14:32:56 +0000

As part of an organization’s efforts to improve joy in work, the guide assists senior leaders in engaging in effective, meaningful conversations with colleagues to understand what matters in daily work.

Physician Well-being 2.0: Where We Are and Where We Are Going

NAM — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 01:36:54 +0000

This perspective summarizes the historical phase of this journey (the “era of distress”), the current state (Well-being 1.0), and the early contours of the next phase based on recent research and the experience of vanguard institutions (Well-being 2.0). The key characteristics and mindset of each phase are summarized to provide context for the current state, to illustrate how the field has evolved, and to help organizations and leaders advance from Well-being 1.0 to Well-being 2.0 thinking.

We Don’t Need Self-Care; We Need Boundaries

NAM — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 20:25:01 +0000

This op-ed from a female physician talks about the “faux self care” advice that women in medicine receive when they are burnt out. Women in medicine are often told to just get lunch, get a manicure, or do yoga but it ends up as an item on their to-do list that guilt trips them and doesn’t seem to solve any problems. This is because it is not actually self care. Self care is defined as the internal hard work of making decisions for yourself. However, for women in medicine, making these decisions is difficult, especially in a hyper-productivity oriented medical culture. She discusses the broken system that places the burden of improving resilience onto the individual and exonerates the system. She encourages setting boundaries as a form of self-care to counteract a system that will make doctors feel ashamed for reaching their limit.

Medical Training Programs Need to Care About Physician Burnout. Should the Rest of Us?

NAM — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 19:11:20 +0000

In this opinion article, Timothy Hoff discusses his thoughts on who’s to blame in the rising rates of physician burnout. He points out how this growing problem has been largely ignored by medical schools and residency/fellowship programs for years. Rather, the blame is focused on external factors of health care despite the fact that medical students and residents already have high rates of burnout before entering practice. The students are viewed more as employees than talented assets that need significant investment to develop fully. Additionally, the culture around these programs overemphasize academic credentials while ignoring other skills such as resilience and emotional intelligence. When the role models in medical training themselves are also burnt out, this cycle continues to pass onto newer generations. Many other industries differ in the way that their “most prized talent” is treated from this aspect.

How Gratitude Can Reduce Burnout in Health Care

NAM — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 14:04:23 +0000

This article published in Greater Good Magazine discusses healthcare systems turning to gratitude as remedy to increasing rates of burnout amongst physicians. Recent studies have found that it improves cardiovascular and mental health and increases resilience to stress. Sutter Health, a doctor and hospital network in Northern California, organized a campaign to teach employees about the benefits of gratitude and how to implement the practice into daily life. Other organizations have also placed emphasis on using gratitude within their workplace as well.

Returning to the Sacred Patient-Physician Relationship

NAM — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 16:37:04 +0000

In this blog post by epileptologist Virginia Thornley, she describes the importance of returning to the sacred traditional relationship between a patient and physician. Where there was once a time where doctors would visit patients in their own homes with simply a bag on hand, is now vastly different from today where there are too many middlemen and regulations getting in the way of a genuine connection. She emphasizes cutting out the middleman and going back to the basics of communication when providing care to a patient. Anything that widens the chasm becomes a barrier to improving the medical environment.