Promoting a Healthy Work Environment in the Clinical Setting

This session will describe the wellness initiatives implemented in a large academic medical center in the Midwestern United States that were designed to promote the health and wellness of their employees. A health and wellness council was created with the goal to elevate the health, wellness and well-being of the employees, with measurements of success.  The council developed 4 sub-committees to focus on nutrition, fitness, cancer prevention, and stress, burnout and resilience.  Programs such as lunch and learns, which focus on nutrition, back health, breast health, and heart heath were launched.  Weekly walks were established with senior leadership participating and leading the activities.  Future plans include a health and wellness newsletter, website presence, surveying employees inquiring about their priorities for health, and creating a strategic plan for health and wellness for the medical center.   The nursing enterprise in the health system, in alignment with the goals of the health and wellness council, created a series of retreats and yoga programs for nursing leaders.  The programs emphasize using integrative therapies and motion to decrease stress and improve health and wellness of nurse leaders. Evaluation data from these initiatives will be shared and used to provide participants with recommendations for promoting a healthy work environment.