Clinician well-being is essential for safe, high-quality patient care.

However, clinicians of all kinds, across all specialties and care settings, are experiencing alarming rates of burnout. Among the most telling of statistics, more than 50 percent of U.S. physicians report significant symptoms. Burnout is a syndrome characterized by a high degree of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization (i.e., cynicism), and a low sense of personal accomplishment at work.

Clinician burnout can have serious, wide-ranging consequences, from reduced job performance and high turnover rates to—in the most extreme cases—medical error and clinician suicide. On the other hand, clinician well-being supports improved patient-clinician relationships, a high-functioning care team, and an engaged and effective workforce. In other words, when we invest in clinician well-being, everyone wins.

Supporting clinician well-being requires sustained attention and action at organizational, state, and national levels, as well as investment in research and information-sharing to advance evidence-based solutions. 

In the face of the unprecedented challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying global public health emergency, the Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience must acknowledge the toll that the current crisis is taking on the well-being of clinicians. We know that the health care and public health community needs our support as they navigate the difficult challenges arising in this unprecedented moment. We have therefore compiled a list of strategies and resources to support the health and well-being of clinicians providing health care during the COVID-19 outbreak.

View Clinician Well-Being Resources During COVID-19 >> 

About the Clinician Well-Being Collaborative 

In 2017, the National Academy of Medicine launched the Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience, a network of more than 200 organizations committed to reversing trends in clinician burnout. The Collaborative has three goals:

1. Raise the visibility of clinician anxiety, burnout, depression, stress, and suicide
2. Improve baseline understanding of challenges to clinician well-being
3. Advance evidence-based, multidisciplinary solutions to improve patient care by caring for the caregiver. 

The Action Collaborative will meet over the course of four years to identify evidence-based strategies to improve clinician well-being at both the individual and systems levels. Products and activities of the Action Collaborative include an online knowledge hub, a series of NAM Perspectives discussion papers, and an all-encompassing conceptual model that reflects the domains affecting clinician well-being. 

Questions? Contact us at ClinicianWellBeing@nas.edu. 

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Clinician Well-Being Collaborative Leadership
Victor Dzau, Chair
Darrell Kirch, Co-Chair
Thomas Nasca, Co-Chair

View members of our six working groups >> 

Staff
Anh Tran, Associate Program Officer
Elizabeth (Libbie) Prescott, Director of Programs
Micheline Toure, Senior Program Assistant
Samantha Phillips, Communications Officer
Sharyl Nass, Board Director

Clinician Well-Being Knowledge Hub

The Clinician Well-Being Knowledge Hub is a comprehensive resource repository for those seeking to promote clinician well-being at their organizations and in their personal lives. The repository contains peer-reviewed research, personal stories, toolkits, presentations, blog posts and other resources that health system administrators and clinicians can use to build a better system that helps clinicians thrive.

Case Studies

These case studies highlight organizational initiatives that have demonstrated success in supporting well-being and reducing burnout among practicing clinicians, trainees, and/or students. The case studies are intended to inform and inspire organizations facing similar challenges and seeking similar outcomes. Although there is no one-size-fits-all solution for clinician well-being, techniques and resources described in the case studies may provide a useful starting point for other groups.

Validated Instruments to Assess Work-Related Dimensions of Well-Being

A key organizational strategy to improving clinician well-being is to measure it, develop and implement interventions, and then re-measure it. A variety of dimensions of clinician well-being can be measured including burnout, engagement, and professional satisfaction. Click below for a summary of established tools to measure work-related dimensions of well-being. Each tool has advantages and disadvantages and some are more appropriate for specific populations or settings.

Conceptual Model – Factors Affecting Clinician Well-Being and Resilience

This conceptual model depicts the factors associated with clinician well-being and resilience; applies these factors across all health care professions, specialties, settings, and career stages; and emphasizes the link between clinician well-being and outcomes for clinicians, patients, and the health system. The model should be used to understand well-being, rather than as a diagnostic or assessment tool. The model will be revised as the field develops and more information becomes available.

Expressions of Clinician Well-Being

Expressions of Clinician Well-Being is an art exhibit that collects insights directly from clinicians, patients, loved ones, and organizations working to prevent burnout and promote well-being. By allowing people to creatively express their experiences with burnout, this gallery captures critical moments in the journey to well-being.

We hope this art will offer an entry point for conversations that can be difficult to have and shed light on the joys and challenges experienced by so many. We hope that the stories captured through this art will allow you to more fully understand why clinician well-being is so essential to the vitality of our health system. 

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Organizational Evidence-Based and Promising Practices for Improving Clinician Well-Being

Now more than ever, health care organizations should advance their resiliency by 1) committing to workforce well-being as an organizational priority, 2) regularly assessing and reporting burnout, 3) sharing accountability across leadership roles, 4) periodically evaluating policies, 5) measuring and improving the efficiency of the work environment, and 6) creating a culture of connection and support for clinicians.

Stigma Compounds the Consequences of Clinician Burnout During COVID-19: A Call to Action to Break the Culture of Silence

Dr. Lorna Breen was the head of the Emergency Department at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in New York City. She dedicated her career to helping others and tirelessly treated patients with COVID-19 at the height of the outbreak, eventually contracting COVID-19 herself. Dr. Breen died by suicide after telling her family that she was reluctant to seek help or ask for assistance for overwhelming work-related stress because she feared that she would lose her medical license or be ostracized by her colleagues. Dr. Breen’s sister and brother-in-law reflect on the final weeks of their sister’s life and work and make an impassioned call to break the culture of silence that surrounds mental health support and assistance for clinicians. 

Clinician Well-Being at Virginia Mason Kirkland Medical Center: A Case Study

The following case study provides an overview of initiatives that support well-being and reduce burnout in clinicians who work at the Virginia Mason Kirkland Medical Center (Kirkland Medical Center). The purpose of this case study is to provide readers with tangible information to understand how Kirkland Medical Center has adopted programs and policies that support wellbeing. This case study is not a prescriptive roadmap. Rather, the authors hope that this case study will serve as an idea-generating resource for leaders working to improve the well-being of our nation’s clinicians, trainees, and students. The development of this case study was informed by extensive interviews with Kirkland Medical Center health professionals and their leadership team.

Clinician Well-Being at The Ohio State University: A Case Study

The purpose of this case study is to provide readers with tangible information to understand how The Ohio State University (Ohio State) has adopted programs and policies that support well-being. This case study is not a prescriptive roadmap. Rather, the authors hope that this case study will serve as an idea-generating resource for leaders working to improve the well-being of our nation’s clinicians, trainees, and students. This case study provides an overview of well-being initiatives at Ohio State’s College of Medicine, College of Nursing, Emergency Medicine Residency Program, and the Wexner Medical Center. The development of this case study was informed by extensive interviews with Ohio State leadership, faculty, staff, and students.