Other Titles
Rapid Presentation Round
Abstract
Stress levels are high for healthcare employees. The negative impact of employee burnout is well-documented within healthcare (Shanafelt et al., 2020; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, 2022). A healthy work environment that optimizes the health and wellbeing of nurses is paramount to providing quality care to patients (Mabona et al., 2022). There is an immediate need for brief, feasible, and rapidly scalable interventions while at work to promote wellbeing for our healthcare workers (Putrino et al., 2020). There is no singular tool or one-size-fits-all approach that holds the answer to wellbeing. Wellbeing is rooted in consistent, sustainable solutions that build strength over time (Gaffney et al., 2023). The purpose of this ongoing quality improvement (QI) project is to examine healthcare workers (employees) perceptions of the organization’s healing culture and preferences for activities that support wellbeing at our medical center. Two surveys were planned over time (January - December 2023) to show changes. Our target population includes all employees within our organization.
In January 2023, a baseline survey of employees measured perceptions of healing culture, knowledge of self-care activities, and activity preferences. The survey was created for this QI project and reviewed for content validity (content validity index 0.98) by experienced holistic nurses and a nurse researcher (L’Ecuyer et al., 2020). The variety of holistic activities includes, but is not limited to, meditation, Jin Shin Jyutsu, nature therapy, yoga, coloring, auricular acupuncture, and sound bath. A monthly Forest Bathing activity is also offered at a nearby park for all employees on their day off.
Team members (N=166) from across the medical center participated in the first of two confidential Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap®) surveys that did not require Institutional Review Board review. Most (93%) were female and ranged from < 25 to >65 years of age; most participants were 25 to 35 years old. Responses indicated positive impressions from 0 to 100, where higher numbers were positive. Mean scores for organizational healing culture (M = 57, SD ± 0.42), self-care opportunities (M = 51, SD ± 0.44), and knowledge of stress reduction techniques (M = 67, SD ± 0.41) were obtained. Mean results showed knowledge of stress reduction but indicated fewer self-care opportunities at work.
A strong program of resources is available to employees; efforts to increase availability and variety of programs continue. This survey provided insight regarding employee preference and will drive options for future activities. The survey will be repeated in late 2023 and compared to baseline to evaluate progress and inform future efforts to support a healthy workplace environment.
Notes
References:
Gaffney, G.A., & Foster, N.C. (2023). Courageous Well-Being for Nurses. Johns Hopkins University Press.
L’Ecuyer, K., Subramaniam, D.S., & Reangsing, C. (2020). Development of the preceptor self-assessment tool and use of the content validity index. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 51(10), 469-476.
Mabona, J.F., Van Rooyen, D., & Ten Ham-Baloyi, W. (2022). Best practice recommendations for healthy work environments for nurses: An integrative literature review. Health SA Gesondheid - Journal of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, 27(0),1788. https://doi.org/10.4102/hsag.v27i0.1788
Putrino, D., Ripp, J., Herrera J.E., Cortes, M., Kellner, C., Rizk, D., & Dams-O’Connor, K. (2020). Multisensory, Nature-Inspired Recharge Rooms Yield Short-Term Reductions in Perceived Stress Among Frontline Healthcare Workers. Frontiers in Psychology,11:560833. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560833
Shanafelt, T., Ripp, J., and Trockel, M. (2020). Understanding and addressing sources of anxiety among health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of the American Medical Association, 323(21), 2133–2134. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.5893
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the U.S. Surgeon General. (2022). Addressing Health Worker Burnout. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/health-worker-wellbeing-advisory.pdf
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Quality Improvement
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Workplace Culture, Workforce, Burnout, Stress, Feedback
Recommended Citation
Millspaugh, Julia W.; Kowalski, Mildred Ortu; Mortimer, Sunnie A.; and Errico, Catherine C., "What Is Your Preference? Creating a Healing Culture Through Employee Feedback" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 14.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/14
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-02-11
What Is Your Preference? Creating a Healing Culture Through Employee Feedback
Washington, DC, USA
Stress levels are high for healthcare employees. The negative impact of employee burnout is well-documented within healthcare (Shanafelt et al., 2020; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, 2022). A healthy work environment that optimizes the health and wellbeing of nurses is paramount to providing quality care to patients (Mabona et al., 2022). There is an immediate need for brief, feasible, and rapidly scalable interventions while at work to promote wellbeing for our healthcare workers (Putrino et al., 2020). There is no singular tool or one-size-fits-all approach that holds the answer to wellbeing. Wellbeing is rooted in consistent, sustainable solutions that build strength over time (Gaffney et al., 2023). The purpose of this ongoing quality improvement (QI) project is to examine healthcare workers (employees) perceptions of the organization’s healing culture and preferences for activities that support wellbeing at our medical center. Two surveys were planned over time (January - December 2023) to show changes. Our target population includes all employees within our organization.
In January 2023, a baseline survey of employees measured perceptions of healing culture, knowledge of self-care activities, and activity preferences. The survey was created for this QI project and reviewed for content validity (content validity index 0.98) by experienced holistic nurses and a nurse researcher (L’Ecuyer et al., 2020). The variety of holistic activities includes, but is not limited to, meditation, Jin Shin Jyutsu, nature therapy, yoga, coloring, auricular acupuncture, and sound bath. A monthly Forest Bathing activity is also offered at a nearby park for all employees on their day off.
Team members (N=166) from across the medical center participated in the first of two confidential Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap®) surveys that did not require Institutional Review Board review. Most (93%) were female and ranged from < 25 to >65 years of age; most participants were 25 to 35 years old. Responses indicated positive impressions from 0 to 100, where higher numbers were positive. Mean scores for organizational healing culture (M = 57, SD ± 0.42), self-care opportunities (M = 51, SD ± 0.44), and knowledge of stress reduction techniques (M = 67, SD ± 0.41) were obtained. Mean results showed knowledge of stress reduction but indicated fewer self-care opportunities at work.
A strong program of resources is available to employees; efforts to increase availability and variety of programs continue. This survey provided insight regarding employee preference and will drive options for future activities. The survey will be repeated in late 2023 and compared to baseline to evaluate progress and inform future efforts to support a healthy workplace environment.
Description
Many leaders use holistic modalities to support a healthy workplace environment. Learn how one facility gathered information from their employees to drive activities and promote a healing culture.