What Healthcare Workers Need Now to Improve Their Wellbeing

Rampant burnout across the healthcare industry is at crisis levels, and shows no sign of improving dramatically anytime soon. While the number of physicians reporting at least one symptom of burnout has dropped slightly from its highs during the pandemic, it remains at nearly 50%. 

For all the talk about this problem, the industry has struggled to make big headway. But there are solutions. Working with large companies in this space, as well as smaller practices, I’ve come to see steps that make a substantial difference.

The key is to embrace fundamentals of a wellness culture in ways that work for the unique challenges and needs of healthcare workers.

Holistic wellness

One key is to set aside the idea that wellbeing is only about exercise, mental health therapy, and stress relief activities like meditation. 

To be clear, all those are important. Recent lists of the most stressful jobs have included surgeons, anesthesiologists, and physicians, along with medical assistants, sonographers, and nurses.

But wellbeing is more holistic. Researchers have concluded that there are eight different dimensions: occupational, physical, emotional, social, financial, intellectual, spiritual, and environmental. To help boost wellness across any workforce, employers should offer resources to help people improve in all these ways.

This can be very impactful. For example, a study published recently in the American Journal of Health Promotion found that “relationships and social connections” are one of the most valued forms of wellness that healthcare providers and students value highly. Providers placed it third after physical and emotional health; students placed it second after emotional health, and above physical health.

Fostering an environment in which people are able to develop meaningful connections goes a long way toward improving social wellbeing. And sometimes, people choose to engage in physical activities together, covering multiple dimensions at once.

Flexibility where possible

Another important step is to embrace the new era of workplace flexibility. This can be done without sacrificing patient care. For example, many administrative tasks can be done at off hours and remotely without sacrificing HIPAA compliance.

When people have flexibility to choose when and where they get some of their work done, they feel much better about their jobs. The vast majority of people say flexibility also improves their mental health and reduces stress. 

This benefit also allows them to include wellness activities at the times that work best for them. When people are able to choose the time of day and type of activities they engage in, they can see better results, and are more likely to stay consistent.

A trust-based culture

Flexibility and a wide array of resources to improve wellbeing are only useful if employees feel they can put these opportunities to use. When they worry that their workplaces may look down on them for working out or meeting with a financial adviser during typical work hours, they’re less likely to do so. 

The same goes with getting their administrative work done. If a healthcare professional feels that this work only “counts” if others see them do it, they’re less likely to take care of it at a more convenient time.

This is why turning all of this potential into real change requires a trust-based culture. Research already shows that trust is crucial for improving healthcare delivery. A study published in November in the journal Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine found that, “A doctor who is a good team leader fosters a workplace culture of trust, collaboration, and transparency, whilst holding everyone accountable for their actions.”

This culture should extend to all aspects of work — and to all personnel. A recent study looked at non-patient-facing employees in a health system. It found that during the Covid pandemic, when they were trusted to work from home, some found their work much more healthy and less stressful. “A non-patient-facing assistant stated that, when employees began to work remotely, the environment lost its ‘anxiety-building, oppressive, rigorous’ energy,” the study found.

These steps can prove transformative. When organizations in the sector enact these changes, they see concrete results — and build the kinds of environments in which top healthcare professionals want to work.

Photo: zhaojiankang, Getty Images

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