How Are You Supporting Your Physicians?    Part 3: Creating a Culture of Care

In a certain sense every health care organization represents a “culture of care.” We make caring for our patients our primary goal and we strive for the best possible outcomes in their cases. That’s what we’re trained to do and doing it cements the reputations of our physicians and our organizations.

But we need to cast a wider care net, prioritizing the care of our physicians as well. So many of them are stressed, frustrated, overworked; many are on the verge of leaving their organization or leaving medicine itself. Tragically, some take their own lives.

Their frustrations range from tight scheduling and onerous electronic record keeping to moral injury, second victim syndrome and burnout. However, with a culture of care for physicians, there is a system-wide commitment to meeting these challenges. Key to establishing and maintaining that culture is an intentional focus on physicians: actively seeking their input, understanding their needs and enabling them to seek help by both providing resources and eliminating the stigma around seeking help. In my article Ensure a Culture of Well Being with a Physician Well Being Audit I lay out ten criteria for a culture of care:

• The systems in place are fair and reasonable.
• Everyone is valued as an individual.
• Managers manage well.
• Everyone is safe to express their thoughts and ideas.
• Everyone has the opportunity and time to take care of themselves and socialize.
• You have adequate resources to help those who are struggling with mental or emotional health issues.
• You are committed to eliminating the stigma around seeking help for emotional or behavioral health issues.
• Leadership understands physician trauma and trauma recovery.
• Leadership asks the right questions to get feedback from physicians.
• Leaders understand what physicians undergo and how they feel. They’re willing to take time to explore their experience.

The article explores each criterion in more detail; read it here. It’s a tool for determining where your organization stands on the crucial issue of care for those who care for your patients.