Meaning in medicine groups as part of faculty development

Health care workers engaged in work that they find personally meaningful are less likely to experience professional burnout. However, health care often involves tedious and burdensome tasks. While physicians are often asked to complete tasks that are less satisfying, creating space to focus on the meaningful parts of patient care is helpful to changing the focus of the mind. We report on the integration of Meaning in Medicine groups in a faculty development program at family medicine residency programs. These groups were created to increase faculty satisfaction, team cohesion, and engagement. Each session starts with an item for reflection – a video, article, or story – and is designed to provide a safe space for discussion of the joys in medicine. Group sizes of 8 to 15, dedicated time, and establishment of ground rules have been essential for success of these meetings.

Download Full-text

Fueling leadership in yourself: a leadership development program for all types of health-care workers

Leadership in Health Services ◽

10.1108/lhs-06-2020-0037 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Nathan Houchens ◽

Stacy L. Sivils ◽

Elizabeth Koester ◽

David Ratz ◽

Jennifer Ridenour ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Leadership Development ◽

Experiential Learning ◽

Employee Engagement ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Development Program ◽

Learning Methods ◽

Content Type ◽

Daily Work ◽

Care Workers

Purpose Leadership development may be a key strategy to enhance job satisfaction, reduce burnout and improve patient safety in health-care systems. This study aims to assess feasibility of a leadership development series in an effort to invigorate a collaborative culture, create peer networks and elevate autonomy in daily work. Design/methodology/approach The authors implemented a collectivistic leadership development series titled Fueling Leadership in Yourself. The series was designed for all types of health-care workers in the medicine service at a tertiary referral center for veterans. Two series of leadership development sessions with varied experiential learning methods were facilitated by content experts. Subjects focused on leadership approaches and attributes applicable to all roles within a health-care system. The authors collected participant perceptions using pre- and post-series surveys. Primary outcomes were understanding and applicability of leadership concepts, employee engagement in leadership, satisfaction with training and work environment and qualitative reflections. Findings A total of 26 respondents (of 38 participants) from 8 departments and several role types increased their knowledge of leadership techniques, were highly satisfied with and would recommend the series and found leadership principles applicable to their daily work. Participants continued to use skills years after the series. Practical implications Short, intermittent, collectivistic leadership development sessions appear effective in expanding knowledge, satisfaction and skills used in daily practice for a diverse group of health-care workers. Originality/value Novel programmatic aspects included inviting all types of health-care workers, practicing universally applicable content and using a variety of active, experiential learning methods.

Download Full-text

Impact of Poetry on Empathy and Professional Burnout of Health-Care Workers: A Systematic Review

Journal of Palliative Care ◽

10.1177/0825859719865545 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 35 (2) ◽

pp. 127-132 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kimberly L. Schoonover ◽

Daniel Hall-Flavin ◽

Kevin Whitford ◽

Mark Lussier ◽

Alison Essary ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Narrative Medicine ◽

Qualitative Studies ◽

Cochrane Central Register ◽

Professional Burnout ◽

Ovid Medline ◽

Cochrane Database ◽

Care Workers ◽

The Impact

Background: Narrative medicine (NM) interventions have positively influenced empathy and burnout to varying degrees in health-care workers. We systematically reviewed the impact of poetry, a form of NM, on empathy and professional burnout. Methods: A comprehensive search of Ovid MEDLINE(R) and Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, and Daily, Ovid EMBASE, Ovid PsycINFO, Ovid Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Ovid Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus, from inception to September 25, 2018, for articles published in English, was conducted using search terms related to NM, empathy, professional burnout, and health-care personnel. Results: Of the 401 abstracts independently screened for inclusion by 2 reviewers, 2 quantitative, 3 qualitative studies, and 1 research letter were included. One research letter, focusing on the use of poetry, found it to increase empathy as measured by a nonvalidated questionnaire. All other studies used mixed NM interventions: 2 quantitative studies, using validated surveys, showed an increase in empathy and 2 qualitative studies showed limited to a prominent finding of increased empathy. There were no studies that used poetry exclusively to assess impact on professional burnout. One quantitative study, utilizing a validated survey, revealed no overall reduced burnout among residents, although high attendance participants had moderately reduced burnout postintervention, and one qualitative study noted limited reduction in burnout. Conclusion: There is evidence that poetry as part of a NM intervention may increase empathy and limited evidence that it may reduce professional burnout among health-care workers.

Download Full-text