Top Ten Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know about Implementing a Team Wellness Program

J Palliat Med. 2021 Jan;24(1):116-121. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2020.0628. Epub 2020 Nov 3.

Abstract

Palliative care (PC) providers often face challenging and emotional cases while operating in the structures that are not ideally resourced. This combination can lead to burnout and further jeopardize resources from turnover, morale, and decreased productivity. Although many wellness efforts have focused on building personal resilience skills for individuals, programmatic approaches to improve a culture wellness are equally important in supporting clinical teams. This article brings together the perspectives of PC leaders with expertise in wellness to collate practical pearls for interventions that impact the culture of well-being in their organizations. In this article, we use a "Top 10" format to highlight the interventions that PC leaders can implement to support the well-being of clinical staff and promote program sustainability.

Keywords: burnout; palliative care; palliative care leadership; program sustainability; resilience; team culture; well-being; wellness.

MeSH terms

  • Burnout, Professional* / prevention & control
  • Health Promotion
  • Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing*
  • Humans
  • Palliative Care
  • Program Evaluation