Conversations and efforts around clinician well-being often center around wellness programs and mental health resources. Undoubtedly, there's a need for these offerings, but just as important in supporting staff is a health system's unwavering focus on patient safety, quality and experience — and the inextricable connection between them.
Many people enter the healthcare field because of the desire to help others and deliver compassionate care — something leaders ought to keep in mind when thinking about the best ways to safeguard clinician well-being and mitigate burnout, according to Sarah Ferguson, vice president of patient services and patient experience at NewYork-Presbyterian in New York City.
"Clinicians always want to impact the health of all of our patients, and they want to reduce suffering; it's the core reason many of our staff got into healthcare in the first place," Ms. Fergsuon told Becker's. "If we continually understand that that's the core that drives them and really fills their cup, we need to also continue to champion those same values in our organizations."
In March, leaders from Press Ganey shared what they learned from data on 410,000 healthcare employees: Beyond well-being initiatives and competitive pay, an organization's commitment to making patient safety and quality the main focus was a top driver of employees' likelihood to stay.
NewYork-Presbyterian's recognition of the interconnectedness between safety, quality and patient experience has played a large role in its approach to promoting employee well-being. The academic health system continuously focuses on changes that can make clinicians' workflow more efficient and give them the ability to do more of the kind of patient care that instills pride and engagement.
"I really believe that when we are too task oriented, that bond and meaningfulness of our roles gets a little bit lost, and obviously all of those things affect the patient experience as well," Ms. Ferguson said.
Emphasizing the importance of bedside shifts is one way the academic health system is supporting clinicians in being able to connect more meaningfully with patients and with one another. The effort involves having nurses meet at patients' bedside during shift changes rather than at the nurses station.
"It's the same conversation, but doing it at the bedside provides an opportunity for the provider to talk up their colleagues and make a more meaningful connection with the patient and allow the patient to participate," Ms. Ferguson said.
NewYork-Presbyterian has also invested in efforts to improve patient education. For example, they updated the device used for barcoding medications to give providers the ability to see side effects and other drug information, eliminating the need to pull resources from elsewhere.
"It's all at their fingertips. And for us, just that simple change — and not simple for the organization, it took a lot to get there — but it made a very simple clinical task better and more safe … and it's something [clinical staff] had asked for," Ms. Ferguson said.
Care rounds, where nurses focus on the four key tasks of addressing patients' pain, position, personal needs and possessions, while rounding are another way NewYork-Presbyterian is trying to streamline workflows and ensure nurses make the most of their time in patient rooms. Ms. Ferguson said this approach has helped reduce falls and call bell alarms.
NewYork-Presbyterian also offers a suite of tools and programs that have a more obvious connection to employee well-being, which include counseling sessions, wellness seminars and yoga. The core message: Thinking holistically about patients and staff pays dividends to care delivery and employee satisfaction.
"Providers are telling us they want that bond with their patients, but they also know they have a lot of other patients to care for, so everything we can do to make that connection more meaningful and efficient and memorable for the patient, and then allowing [providers] to step away, has been critical for us," Ms. Ferguson said.