WorkHealthy Hospital Spotlight Features INTEGRIS

Posted on: 5/17/19

INTEGRIS is the next health care system to be featured in the WorkHealthy Hospital Spotlight series. The series features hospitals in the WorkHealthy Hospitals initiative, a grant program of TSET. Efforts of featured hospitals encompass the spirit of employee well-being and stand out from the crowd.

It is increasingly important for health care workers to have tools and support to help them adapt to adversity. Some aspects to be considered are benefits, environmental support and policies that address their well-being holistically; all aspects that are covered in the WHH initiative. In order to maintain high value patient care and to recruit and retain employees, it is vital for hospitals to recognize they have the same duty to care for their employees as their employees are expected to care for their patients. INTEGRIS takes this seriously by focusing on caregiver well-being throughout their system.

What sets them apart …

INTEGRIS leadership is implementing a comprehensive, systematic and sustainable approach to improve caregiver well-being and build a more resilient workforce. This emphasis began when they participated in a Mayo collaborative that focused on physician and resident well-being. After seeing the success of the program and recognizing that this effort should be spread throughout the system, INTEGRIS strengthened their culture of wellness strategy. INTEGRIS supports all caregivers in attending to their own well-being and views self-care as a professional core competency. Self-care and patient care are NOT competing interests.

“We learned through our collaboration with Mayo that our improved well-being resulted in better care for our patients. We want to sustain this throughout our organization with all of our caregivers.” —Jeffrey Cruzan, MD

Some of their initiatives include activities such as sending monthly tips for “A Whole Year of Resilience” and encouraging participation in activities provided by Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation, an educational hub and resource tool for various workplace well-being challenges. INTEGRIS is providing support and resilience training for all their caregivers across the enterprise.

Each INTEGRIS residency program has a wellness resident. Wellness residents are peer-selected upper level residents who serve as a point of contact for peer support and wellness concerns. The graduate medical education department implemented the Resilience in Stressful Events program. RISE is a “second victim” program designed to support and encourage resilience when unexpected outcomes occur.

Additionally, INTEGRIS created a Well-Being Governance Council. This steering committee is a forum for collaboration and it represents the structure of the hospital system with members that include physicians and residents, nurses, ancillary department employees and administration. The council is responsible for system-wide well-being initiatives and it provides guidance in establishing a framework and goals for these initiatives. Regardless of the health care landscape, the sustainable implementation of this council will continue ensuring that the well-being of INTEGRIS employees is a priority.

For information about the WorkHealthy Hospitals initiative, contact Sydney Tomlinson, health improvement initiatives specialist, OHA, at (405) 427-9537 or [email protected].