Health care organizations change their culture to reduce clinician burnout

0
Health care organizations change their culture to reduce clinician burnout

Health care clinician well-being is no longer centered on just individuals or even a team. It has evolved to encompass an organization’s entire health care community.

Health systems and hospitals are working to change their culture systemwide, to provide the support their staff needs and to reduce high rates of burnout among physicians, nurses and other workforce groups.

The American Medical Association found that in 2023, 48.2% of physicians reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout, which was a decrease from 53% in 2022.  

A November study published in JAMA Network Open said multiple analyses have pegged the nurse burnout rate between 11% and 56%. The data, from 85 studies involving 288,581 nurses, linked burnout to a lower safety culture, less patient satisfaction and lower nurse-assessed quality of care. 

An American Hospital Association podcast focused on efforts at Corewell Health West in Michigan over the past five years to change the culture of wellness so that everyone is involved. Dr. Kristin Jacob, medical director of the Office of Physician and APP Fulfillment, defined progress as simply walking into a meeting “and I’m not the only one who is talking about well-being.”

“I am not the one inserting myself, the language, the vernacular. … [T]he understanding is coming from our operations leaders, from our finance leaders,” Jacob added. 

Dr. Chris DeRienzo, the AHA’s chief physician executive, added that well-being “isn’t just sort of a single leg of a stool” but must have multiple components.

Measuring, supporting clinician well-being

A US Surgeon General’s report released in 2022 outlined the consequences of clinician burnout across health care, including the physical effects on providers, delays in patient care, reductions in the quality of care and patient safety, workforce shortages and declines in population health. 

The report highlighted the importance of well-being initiatives but emphasized that solutions must go beyond the individual. “While addressing burnout may include individual-level support, burnout is a distinct workplace phenomenon that primarily calls for a prioritization of systems-oriented, organizational-level solutions,” according to the report. 

To that end, Corewell Health West uses the annual Well-Being Index systemwide as a resource for assessing key wellness measures and as a way to provide visibility and accountability to the process. Data is sent to each clinical service line. “We’re encouraging them to put action plans together that align with their already established [goals] or enhance the operational goals that they are already focusing on,” Jacob said.  

The health system also works to identify clinicians who are passionate about wellness and has established a Well-Being Champion Network that includes more than 60 people. These colleagues can provide support and address specific wellness issues within their facilities. “And so getting change agents at the local level has been incredibly important for spreading the word and also changing that culture,” Jacob said. 

A collaborative approach

As this process evolved, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Jacob said the health system built its foundational programs, including mental health support, coaching and peer support groups. It continues to look at what is driving burnout among clinicians, understanding that support staff and provider shortages are factors. 

“We hear administrative burden as essentially No. 1,” Jacob said. “We hear flexibility. And that’s an extraordinarily broad term that can be everything from your call schedule, to your day to day, to how the FTE is designated to workload.”

Mass General Brigham in Boston also took aim at its overall culture when it advanced well-being initiatives, Dr. Mallika Mendu, chief population health officer, told a wellness panel at the 2024 Forbes Healthcare Summit in December. Mendu said addressing the challenges of clinician burnout must be solutions-oriented.

The hospital’s Mortality Review Program, which looks at every death that occurs in the hospital, offered one solution. It found that in about 20% of deaths, some type of positive feedback was shared regarding the case, along with what went wrong.

“When we sent that information back to the person it was referencing or the team that it was referencing, it really had a positive impact,” Mendu said.

The program tracked key information that was valued by a team or team member, such as the care of patients and families or teamwork, Mendu said, and found there was significant cross-discipline or cross-role feedback. For example, nurses in 40% of cases were providing feedback to another group within the hospital. 

The Surgeon General’s report called for multiple stakeholders to collaborate and use a “whole-of society” approach to create a health system environment where patients, communities and providers can thrive.

“Addressing health worker burnout is about more than health,” then-US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy commented in the report. “It’s about reflecting the deeper values that we aspire to as a society – values that guide us to look out for one another and to support those who are seeking to do the same.” 

__________________________

Take advantage of SmartBrief’s FREE email newsletter for health care leaders and critical care professionals, which is among the company’s more than 300 industry-focused newsletters.

link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *