Clinician Well-Being Summit

Pictured above: The Ohio State University Chief Wellness Officer Bernadette Melnyk, Brutus Buckeye and Josh Winn encourage everyone to find five minutes in their day to invest in their own personal wellness.

by Ella Gomez

The fourth biennial Clinician Well-being Summit on Promoting Well-being and Resilience in Healthcare Professionals was held in October at the Hilton Columbus Downtown. This national forum centered on evidence-based ways to enhance well-being and resilience as well as healthful lifestyle behaviors across all healthcare professions and health sciences education. This interdisciplinary initiative was co-hosted by the Colleges of Nursing, Dentistry, Medicine, Optometry, Pharmacy, Social Work, Business, Veterinary Medicine, and the Office of the Chief Wellness Officer of The Ohio State University.

More than 350 people attended, to discuss and learn about how to improve the mental and physical well-being of healthcare providers, which in turn affects healthcare quality, safety and patient outcomes. 

Leaders of national health and wellness institutions spoke, including Corey Feist, JD, CEO and co-founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, and Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, APRN-CNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN, chief wellness officer and vice president for health promotion at Ohio State and Helene Fuld Health Trust Professor of EBP in the College of Nursing, who championed improving clinicians’ mental health. Bryan Sexton, PhD, director of the Duke Center for the Advancement of Well-being Science, discussed evidence-based wellness practices in his presentation, “Bite-Sized Well-Being During Uncertain Times: Evidence, Practice and Resources to Share.” 

Other speakers presented inspirational examples and techniques. Nik Nikic and his son Chris, who is a Special Olympics ambassador, marathon runner and the first person with Down syndrome to complete a 140.6-mile Ironman, discussed “1% Better,” a system Nik created to help Chris develop habits that helped him reach his full potential. Peter Lovatt, PhD, a dance psychologist, discussed how movement enhances human experiences. Sarah Lagrotteria, MA, chief education officer at Just Bloom School, spoke about how industry leaders, school educators and small business professionals could share the stories that make them resilient and uniquely able to drive change in their organizations and themselves.

Presentations focused on factors contributing to burnout and resilience, effective interventions to reduce the risks of burnout and promote healthy lifestyle behaviors, and changes to the systems and cultures of healthcare settings that can improve employee well-being and resilience. 

The conference, co-chaired by Melnyk and Ohio State College of Medicine Dean Carol R. Bradford, MD, FACS, re-energized attendees and reminded them how important it is to commit to taking excellent self-care while taking care of others.