Michael R. Privitera, MD, MS; Chia-Chia Chang, MPH, MBA; and L. Casey Chosewood, MD, MPH write on health worker well-being.

For today’s health workers, feeling chronically overwhelmed is commonplace. Increasing evidence of unremitting levels of high work-related stress, often beyond the control of the clinicians, can lead to severe physical and emotional harm. Such stress threatens the sustainability of the healthcare professionals workforce.

To improve working conditions, a Total Worker Health® approach may be particularly relevant to the healthcare sector. In healthcare, studies have found that the majority of occupational stressors causing burnout are due to systemic factors; yet most interventions for burnout, quality, and patient safety are directed at the healthcare providers (HCP) and not at the system level.