Challenges experienced by staff in the Oncology Services Group at Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital resulted in issues with staff retention, wellbeing and stress on the team culture. To support them a multi-faceted wellbeing program was put in place and staff were facilitated and encouraged to shape their wellbeing according to a variety of strategies.
The project was a finalist in the Promoting Wellbeing Category at the 2017 Queensland Health Awards for Excellence.
Provide a multidimensional approach for supporting and sustaining paediatric oncology staff wellbeing and resilience at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.
Flourishing at work including:
Staff wellbeing has been shown to have a positive impact on service outcomes, including quality of patient care, patient satisfaction, and reduction in errors. It also assists staff productivity, efficiency, engagement, decision making and retention.
The Oncology Staff Wellbeing Program was initiated to assist oncology staff at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital with resilience and retention issues following a challenging period of change and complexity. A needs analysis was informed through staff interviews, an organisational staff survey and surveys regarding work related stressors and rewards; leading to the development of a customised program.
Program strategies were aligned to Seligman's (2011) PERMA framework;
1. Positive emotion
2. Engagement
3. Relationships
4. Meaning
5. Accomplishments
Evaluation to date has included participation data, evaluation of education and mindfulness sessions, staff surveys on the outcomes of the program, retention data and a subsequent organisational (Working for Queensland) staff survey.
The evaluation has shown appreciation from staff that their needs were being addressed and they were supported to sustain their resilience. The program has made a positive difference to staff wellbeing, including raising awareness of personal self care, addressing risks to wellbeing, and improving connections with trusted colleagues. Staff retention has increased and measures of work/life balance and wellbeing support have improved.
Any effort to improve wellbeing is appreciated by the staff. A wellbeing program needs to be multifaceted and delivered in a number of modes to cover the full team, and be supported by strategies to improve team culture and integration. The program will be ongoing and delve into widening areas (eg team culture) to ensure lasting impact.
