Abstract
Background: A healthy work environment is an active process that involves employees and the leadership team to meet the complexities of the health care settings. Post Pandemic, there’s been intentional efforts to redesign the worker well-being to reduce workplace stress and increase staff engagement (Grant et al., 2020, Lovejoy et.al., 2021). A healthy work environment is foundational to safety culture, as it promotes effective communication, collaboration, shared decisions-making, authentic leadership, and meaningful recognition (Grant et al., 2020, Vaughan, 2023). Employers have increasingly invested in workplace wellness programs to enhance employee health at the organizational level (Song & Baicker, 2019). However, evidence suggests that at the local level, wellness programs are often not customized to meet the specific needs of the team for optimal outcomes (Brand et al., 2017, Brown et al., 2020). This lack of tailoring is attributed to factors such as the absence of a committee structure, insufficient knowledge, limited shared decision-making, a lack of prioritization of team-specific initiatives, unclear roles and responsibilities, and inadequate management support (Bowles et al., 2019, Brown et al., 2020, Song & Baicker, 2019). The implementation of a structured work wellness committee has shown to significantly enhance engagement and participation at the department level (Brown et al., 2020, Gutkin et al., 2020, Vaughan, 2023).
Purpose: A quality improvement study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a structured wellness committee in driving wellness program initiatives at the departmental level.
Method: The formation of the "B-Well Committee," consisting of members from various disciplines, was based on Jean Watson's framework of human caring to address work-related needs through the pillars of Belonging, Wellness, Engagement, Longevity, and Lifelong learning.
Findings: A survey was administered prior to the program launch to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, capturing the current state of employee wellness within each pillar. Through 15 questions on a Likert scale, the team found that Longevity (3.50/5), Engagement (3.54/5), and Belonging (3.71/5) ranked the lowest, which led to focused interventions. Additionally, active participation in the enterprise employee engagement program offerings increased from 12.5% to 87.5%. A post-survey will be administered to further evaluate the progress upon completion of ninety days.
Notes
References: Brown, M., Harris, J., Hammerback, K., Kohn, M., Parrish, A., Chan, Garry., Ornelas, I., Helfrich, C., Hannon, P. (2020). Development of a
Wellness committee implementation Index for workplace health promotion programs in small businesses. American Journal of Health Promotion, 34(6), 614-621. doi:10.1177/0890117120906967.
Bowles, J., Batcheller, J., Adams, J., Zimmermann, D., Pappas, S. (2019). Nursing’s leadership role in advancing professional practice/work environments as part of the quadruple aim. Nursing Administration Quarterly. 43(2), 157-163. DOI: 10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000342
Brand, S. L., Thompson Coon, J., Fleming, L. E., Carroll, L., Bethel, A., & Wyatt, K. (2017).Whole system approaches to improving the health and wellbeing of Healthcare Workers: A systematic review. PLOS ONE 12(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188418
Grant, S., Davidson, J., Manges, K., Dermenchyan, A., Wilson, E., Dowdell, E. (2020). Creating Healthful Work Environments to Deliver on the Quadruple Aim: A Call to Action. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 50 (6), 314–21. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000891.
Gutkin, P. M., Minneci, M. O., Valenton, J., Kovalchuk, N., Chang, D. T., & Horst, K. C. (2020). Importance of a culture committee for boosting morale and maintaining a healthy work environment in radiation oncology. Advances in Radiation Oncology, 5(6), 1115–1117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adro.2020.07.002
Lovejoy, M., Kelly, E., Kubzansky, L., Berkman, L. (2021). Work Redesign for the 21st Century: Promising Strategies for Enhancing Worker Well-Being. American Journal of Public Health, 111(10), 1787–95. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306283
Song, Z., & Baicker, K.(2019). Effect of a workplace wellness program on employee health and economic outcomes. JAMA, 321(15), 1491-15-1. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.3307
Vaughan, J. (2023). Evidence- Based Pearls. Critical Care Nursing Clinics of North America, 35(2), 101–07. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnc.2023.02.002
Sigma Membership
Alpha Alpha Lambda at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Workforce, Acute care, Succession Planning
Recommended Citation
Arastu, Fatima; Chen, Helen; Duncan, Hillary; and Elles, Rich, "Multidisciplinary Workplace Wellness Committee to Improve Employee Engagement" (2025). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 43.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2025/presentations_2025/43
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Conference Year
2025
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.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Multidisciplinary Workplace Wellness Committee to Improve Employee Engagement
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Background: A healthy work environment is an active process that involves employees and the leadership team to meet the complexities of the health care settings. Post Pandemic, there’s been intentional efforts to redesign the worker well-being to reduce workplace stress and increase staff engagement (Grant et al., 2020, Lovejoy et.al., 2021). A healthy work environment is foundational to safety culture, as it promotes effective communication, collaboration, shared decisions-making, authentic leadership, and meaningful recognition (Grant et al., 2020, Vaughan, 2023). Employers have increasingly invested in workplace wellness programs to enhance employee health at the organizational level (Song & Baicker, 2019). However, evidence suggests that at the local level, wellness programs are often not customized to meet the specific needs of the team for optimal outcomes (Brand et al., 2017, Brown et al., 2020). This lack of tailoring is attributed to factors such as the absence of a committee structure, insufficient knowledge, limited shared decision-making, a lack of prioritization of team-specific initiatives, unclear roles and responsibilities, and inadequate management support (Bowles et al., 2019, Brown et al., 2020, Song & Baicker, 2019). The implementation of a structured work wellness committee has shown to significantly enhance engagement and participation at the department level (Brown et al., 2020, Gutkin et al., 2020, Vaughan, 2023).
Purpose: A quality improvement study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a structured wellness committee in driving wellness program initiatives at the departmental level.
Method: The formation of the "B-Well Committee," consisting of members from various disciplines, was based on Jean Watson's framework of human caring to address work-related needs through the pillars of Belonging, Wellness, Engagement, Longevity, and Lifelong learning.
Findings: A survey was administered prior to the program launch to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, capturing the current state of employee wellness within each pillar. Through 15 questions on a Likert scale, the team found that Longevity (3.50/5), Engagement (3.54/5), and Belonging (3.71/5) ranked the lowest, which led to focused interventions. Additionally, active participation in the enterprise employee engagement program offerings increased from 12.5% to 87.5%. A post-survey will be administered to further evaluate the progress upon completion of ninety days.
Description
The creation of a department-tailored program is critical for meaningful adoption and, consequently, the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary structured committee. While employee engagement programs at the enterprise level are often comprehensive, local leadership engagement is necessary to drive meaningful utilization at the individual level.