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The new Impact Wellbeing Guide has six actions that hospital and health system leaders can use to make meaningful changes to work conditions that contribute to burnout in physicians and other clinicians.

The guide was published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, an agency within the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and developed with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to safeguarding the well-being and job satisfaction of health care professionals. The guide is a free resource published online.

Stefanie Simmons, MD, FACEP, is an emergency medicine specialist and chief medical officer of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.

In this series of videos, Simmons discusses the six actions and why they can improve work conditions in health care.

Impact Wellbeing – Action 1: Review your hospital’s operations

Many hospitals, health systems and physician offices may already have workplace review and improvement processes. Executive sponsors need to understand and acknowledge those efforts of staff who already feel passionate about this work, said Stefanie Simmons, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.

Impact Wellbeing – Action 2: Building a professional well-being team

Stefanie Simmons, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, discusses how to select members of a team that will examine workplace conditions to improve settings for physicians and other clinicians.

Impact Wellbeing – Action 3: Breaking down barriers to seeking help

Stigmatizing questions about seeking mental health care have a chilling effect on heath care workers’ ability to seek it when they need it. Stefanie Simmons, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, explains why removing those questions will promote an environment for health workers to seek care.

Impact Wellbeing – Action 4: Communicate your commitment

Forming a wellness team and removing stigmatizing questions about seeking mental health care are two substantial actions that hospitals and health systems can do. Communicating about those actions will build trust in the workforce, said Stefanie Simmons, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.

Impact Wellbeing – Action 5: Professional well-being in quality improvement

Hospitals have many quality improvement projects going on at one time. How can a hospital grow from no professional well-being projects to dozens, even hundreds? By incorporating a measurement of the effects on the workforce into one of those quality improvement projects. Stefanie Simmons, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, explains more.

Impact Wellbeing – Action 6: Developing a long-term plan

It will take longer than six weeks or six months to resolve workplace inefficiencies that contribute to health care worker burnout. Here are three areas that health care leaders should consider over a 12-month period to develop a long-term approach, said Stefanie Simmons, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, explains more.

In case you missed it, here is Medical Economics' earlier report on the Impact Wellbeing Guide and additional videos with Simmons discussing the guide, physician burnout and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation.

Impact Wellbeing – Introducing the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation

Impact Wellbeing – Is burnout getting attention?

Impact Wellbeing – The origin of a new program

Impact Wellbeing – Tested in a health system

Impact Wellbeing – Health care worker leadership