Healthy Providers, Healthy Patients: Advancing Workforce Well-Being in the Health Professions
An NAM Graphic Medicine project
To recognize the annual Health Workforce Well-Being Day on March 18, 2025, the NAM released this graphic medicine project demonstrating the critical health worker-patient relationship. Through art, the project highlights that health workers and the communities they serve have the common goal of better outcomes for all, and addressing burnout among health workers is one proven way to help build an environment that supports shared well-being… because A Healthy Workforce Means a Healthy You.
Definition
Graphic Medicine
Graphic medicine uses art to share personal stories of illness and health, helping people see different perspectives, find connections, and start meaningful conversations.
Challenges in the U.S. Health Care System
- Over one in three patients
report dissatisfaction with their care and outcomes. - Health worker burnout lowers patient care quality: Staffing challenges decrease patients’ access to care.
- High workloads, administrative burdens, and poorly designed technologies divert clinicians’ time away from patient care.
- Barriers to patient-clinician communication and errors are more likely.
- The cost to the health care system is at least $4.6 billion annually.
- About half of health care professionals experience burnout – leading to anxiety, stress, exhaustion, and even suicide.
- High-stress work environments are driving 20% of physicians and 40% of nurses to leave practice. More than 30% of public health workers are also considering leaving.
report dissatisfaction with their care and outcomes.
Our Vision: A Workplace Designed for Healthy Providers and Patients
How to Support Health Workers and Patient Care
- Evidence-informed solutions to improve health workers’ well-being exist, and many can be easily implemented.
- Leaders must revise technology, policies, and regulations to reduce burdens in service of the critical health worker-patient relationship. Institutionalizing well-being as a value will help ensure the health of those who care for us and sustainable staffing to meet patient needs.
- The NAM National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being provides a blueprint for every sector identify the most pressing priorities or promising opportunities and develop action plans in line with available resources.
- Prioritizing well-being improves care quality and reduces costs—it’s not an extra task, but a central priority.
can be easily implemented.Background
The NAM acknowledges the valuable support from the project’s design firm, Bonehaus. We also thank the volunteers who helped inform this project and all Clinician Well-Being Collaborative members and Change Makers for shedding light on the important work happening at their institutions to advance well-being for the benefit of both providers and patients.
Next Steps and Related Resources
National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being
A comprehensive, evidence-based roadmap that prioritizes the well-being of health workers and reimagines care delivery to ensure every patient receives the treatment they deserve
Change Maker Campaign
Hundreds of organizations and counting have affirmed a commitment to and are making progress toward institutionalizing well-being as a long-term value, and the opportunity remains open to join the health workforce well-being movement
Health Workforce Well-Being Day (March 18)
This annual national day was established to drive collective action and raise awareness about the clinician burnout crisis, with related local and national events and activities occurring throughout March each year
Health Leaders Accelerate Well-Being photo project
A visual depiction of health leaders’ reflections on the urgent need to prioritize health worker well-being, to help inspire more evidence-informed solutions
Social Graphics and Text
Help Spread the Word!
The following text and graphics are for you to adapt and use on your website, in your newsletters, and across your social channels.
