Children’s Mercy Kansas City’s (Mo.) three-pillar approach to staff well-being has had big results, reducing stress, improving retention and boosting morale.
The three pillars, which form the basis for a number of programs at the hospital, are a culture of well-being and belonging, workplace improvement and personalized resilience.
One of the hospital’s simplest, but most impactful programs falls under the personalized resilience pillar. The “Well-Being on Wheels” program involves taking a small cart loaded with snacks, fidget toys, socks and other small items around units to distribute to staff.
“The real purpose isn’t just the snacks,” Angela Myers, MD, chief wellness officer for the hospital, told Becker’s. “It’s the human connection. Being present in their workspace, talking with staff, asking how their day is going — that matters.”
The program has been linked to a 28% increase in energy, 16% increase in perceived organizational support and 17% increase in engagement.
The hospital has also had great success launching respite rooms. These are small, quiet spaces both on and off site where staff can go to be alone so “they can meditate, cry or just take a breath before returning to work,” Dr. Myers said.
Under the workplace improvement pillar, Dr. Myers and her team partner with “quality and safety champions embedded across divisions to weave well-being into improvement projects.” This includes launching projects to address barriers to productivity all the way to small things like fixing an electronic medical record issue. The hospital also holds a monthly commensality group for physician and nurse leaders to help reduce the loneliness of leadership. Physicians participating in that program had 4% higher professional fulfillment and 18% higher social connectedness compared to physicians not in the commensality group.
To foster a culture of well-being, the team created a support system for employees who are injured on the job or going through litigation, as well as a peer support program.
