Healthcare is in a state of major transformation. Stretched thin by demands from regulatory bodies, administration, insurance providers and the ever-complex needs of their profession, healthcare professionals may be our nation’s most stressed employees. Most enter this profession with a personal and noble desire to help people heal. However, the very nature of this work takes a tremendous toll on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of practitioners. The focus is on helping others become healthier all the while their own well-being is suffering.

Medical organizations hold an important responsibility to provide and create opportunities for their staff and teams to improve their well-being while also reconnecting to why they chose into this worthy profession in the first place. Acknowledging the humanity of your employees sends a powerful message that they are valued, recognized and appreciated. There is an opportunity for us to remember that it is called practicing medicine for a reason.

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Northwell Health of New York are ranked 12 and 13 of Best Workplaces in Healthcare and Biopharma 2018. Both of these organizations focus tremendous resources on the physical, mental and emotional well-being of their team members. Children’s for example, offers paid “resiliency retreats,” encouraging their staff to take time for themselves as a method of offsetting the stress of their work environment. Northwell has a Health Center for Wellness and Integrative Medicine offering employees access to yoga, pilates, acupuncture and meditation, among many other benefits like classes at a Corporate University and tuition reimbursement. These kinds of programs and benefits support the whole life of an employee, allowing them to see their work as more than just a job. They feel part of something that has more meaning, and in this caring by the employer of their well-being, they are able to take better care of themselves.

The American Medical Association recently published The Charter on Physician Well- Being citing four “Guiding Principles.” They include: Effective Patient Care Promotes and Requires Physician Well-being, Physician Well-being is Related With the Well-being of All Members of the Healthcare Team, Physician Well-being is a Quality Marker, and Physician Well-being is a Shared Responsibility. We know our physicians’ well-being or the lack thereof is impacting the landscape of healthcare. The Charter specifically calls out burnout, depression and increased suicide risk for healthcare professionals as “problems associated with suboptimal patient care, lower patient satisfaction, decreased access to care, and increased health care costs.”

Physicians are conditioned from the inception of their education to find and live within an invisible line of caring and stoicism as a way of balancing the complexity of their field. This often creates a culture of pushing themselves beyond human nature, needing to be indispensable, and finding weakness in showing or sharing emotion or asking for help. As within any organization, the entire team takes their cues from the top, an unhealthy culture is born and spread. This impacts nurses, aides, technicians and the administration too. With an aging American population, healthcare has become the U.S.’s largest employer. Creating a healthier culture for all healthcare practitioners is paramount to sustain the expanded complexity of this omnipresent field.                   

The Healthcare NOWTM Program is practical and immediately useful. It is experiential, respectful and meets individuals where they are. The program offers a technology focusing on mindfulness, empowered communication, self-inquiry and awareness, that allows us to create a thriving culture by examining our beliefs. Regardless of position within the team, this program is in service to the humanity of the individual and is directly transferable to their role. Although each module supports and complements the others, each can stand independently and provide significant impact within the participant’s personal and professional lives.    

WIN Coaching

Based on positive psychology and strengths based leadership, we guide our clients into harnessing their greatest strengths and experiencing professional and personal breakthroughs.

DCC’s Transforming Culture™ Leadership Development Program develops the skills and behaviors needed to transform an organization’s culture and, by doing so, their business results transform too.

WIN Coaching

Based on positive psychology and strengths based leadership, we guide our clients into harnessing their greatest strengths and experiencing professional and personal breakthroughs.

DCC’s Transforming Culture™ Leadership Development Program develops the skills and behaviors needed to transform an organization’s culture and, by doing so, their business results transform too.