Learn Best Practices for Promoting Healthcare Worker Well-Being and Resilience

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By Christopher Cheney

The second annual Summit on Promoting Well-Being and Resilience in Healthcare Professionals will be held virtually from Oct. 21 to Oct. 23.

Burnout is one of the most vexing challenges facing physicians and other healthcare workers nationwide. Research published in September 2018 found that nearly half of physicians nationwide were experiencing burnout symptoms, and a study published in October 2018 found burnout increases the odds of physician involvement in patient safety incidents, unprofessionalism, and lower patient satisfaction.

The summit is being hosted by The Ohio State University colleges of dentistry, medicine, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, public health, social work, and veterinary medicine, as well as The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience.

The event was formed last year to address a pressing need among healthcare professionals, says summit co-chair Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, APRN-CNP, dean of the College of Nursing and chief wellness officer at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

“It was launched because we wanted to make an impact on the rates of clinician burnout, depression, and suicide. Now, with the coronavirus pandemic, those rates have worsened even more. Doctors and nurses are suffering now from post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout, anxiety, and depression,” she says.

The mission of the summit is to share best practices on how to improve healthcare professional well-being and resilience as well as to spur people to action, Melnyk says.

“This year, we are going to have a call to action for the 90 days after the summit. What are you going to do personally as well as at your workplace to take some of the evidence-based strategies you have learned at the summit and implement them? I am going to send a follow-up survey 90 days after the event, so we can document some outcomes from the summit.”

Summit agenda highlights

This year’s summit has five themes:

1. Promoting well-being and healthy lifestyle behaviors in healthcare professionals

2. Promoting well-being and healthy lifestyle behaviors in health sciences students and faculty

3. Organizational and systemwide initiatives to enhance workplace wellness culture

4. Innovations to promote well-being, resilience, and healthy lifestyle behaviors

5. Innovative solutions launched during the coronavirus pandemic

The summit will begin with several workshops during the afternoon of Oct. 21. Then full days of sessions will be held on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23.

U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, is a late addition to the roster of presenters. He is slated to speak at 9 a.m. on Oct. 22.

There will be two keynote presentations:

  • Liselotte “Lotte” Dyrbye, MD, MHPE, of Mayo Clinic will conduct a presentation titled “Burnout: Strategies to Get to System-Level Solutions”
  • Doug Smith, MBA, who is co-founder of Positive Foundry and a former CEO of Kraft Foods Canada, will conduct a presentation titled “The Science and Skill of Flourishing”

Christopher Cheney is the senior clinical care​ editor at HealthLeaders.