Action 2: Build Your Professional Wellbeing Team

At a glance

In Action 2, build a dedicated team to support professional wellbeing at your hospital. This team should be cross-disciplinary, cross-department, and have shared governance between management and workers.

About the Action

Purpose

Assemble a Professional Wellbeing Team that will lead efforts in your hospital in support of professional wellbeing. This team is critical to ensure that professional wellbeing stays centered in your hospital's operations without putting the work only on one position or department.

Action 2 in a six step sequence. It has an icon of a group of five stick figures surrounded by a shield.
Action 2 is to build your Professional Wellbeing Team.

Key concept

Building a Professional Wellbeing Team ensures that executive leadership commits time and resources to protect, improve, and sustain the professional wellbeing of healthcare workers. Shared governance between management and worker representatives is essential to trust-building and ensuring that the voices of healthcare staff are included.

Read the full Guide‎

Download the Impact Wellbeing Guide: Taking Action to Improve Healthcare Worker Wellbeing

Case study

Shared governance in wellbeing efforts allows healthcare workers to provide input and have decision-making authority with management. It is a key component of a collaborative work environment. At the University of Utah, the Wellbeing Steering Committee includes a variety of departments in wellbeing efforts, such as patient experience, academic affairs, and operational leaders. The Chief Wellness Officer at Utah and the Resiliency Center adopted the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Joy in Work model to train teams in quality improvement focused on professional wellbeing. Additionally, nursing teams implemented shared governance to enhance professional wellbeing. Using approaches that empower frontline leaders, the organization successfully fosters a culture of shared responsibility for professional wellbeing.

Smiling African American in scrubs sits at conference table with other healthcare providers.
This Utah hospital created a Wellbeing Steering Committee.

Guide Connection: This case study aligns with the campaign by demonstrating the effectiveness of shared governance in promoting a collaborative work environment. Leadership emphasized the importance of co-creation and breaking down silos between different departments. It’s important to involve diverse teams to create a holistic approach to professional wellbeing.

Action 2 resources

Download the resources below to determine the appropriate representatives for your Professional Wellbeing Team and build your team norms and expectations:

Professional Wellbeing Team roles chart

Committee charter worksheet

Customizable materials

Explore customizable graphics and promotional materials to communicate about professional wellbeing efforts with your staff.

Woman in scrubs smiles during a meeting with other healthcare workers.
Using these materials can help show your commitment to professional wellbeing.

  1. Download and open the PDF. You will see a highlighted field of editable text. Each poster has a portion of bracketed text for you to type in your custom message. For example: [INSERT HOSPITAL-SPECIFIC URL].
  2. You can also customize the poster with your hospital’s logo. We recommend using a white logo with a transparent background. The preferred file type is a .png file. To insert the logo, click on the “LOGO IPSUM” graphic — from here, a window will open prompting you to select your logo file.
  3. After inserting the logo, be sure to save your customized poster.
  • How to customize your poster: 1) Download and open the PDF. You will see a highlighted field of editable text. Each poster has a portion of bracketed text for you to type in your custom message. For example: [INSERT HOSPITAL-SPECIFIC URL]. 2) You can also customize the poster with your hospital’s logo. We recommend using a white logo with a transparent background. The preferred file type is a .png file. To insert the logo, click on the “LOGO IPSUM” graphic — from here, a window will open prompting you to select your logo file. 3) After inserting the logo, be sure to save your customized poster.