A scientific approach to living your best work life
Vet Times
When did you last feel a buzz at work, or try something new to improve how you do your job?
Veterinary life can be deeply rewarding but it brings challenges too, many of which have been magnified in recent years. It’s natural to have tough days and wonder what we could have done differently – but we don’t have to wait for our circumstances to change, or do some CPD to shake up how we feel and work. In fact, we can all do something – today – to help lift our spirits and performance.
The gifts of hope, confidence, and safety that health care should offer patients and families can only come from a workforce that feels hopeful, confident and safe. Joy in work is an essential resource for the enterprise of healing.”
Donald Berwick, president emeritus and senior fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
What this article covers
In the last of this series, RCVS Knowledge and Jesse McCall from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement take a look back at how implementing this tried-and-tested framework can help us feel and work better every day, no matter what your day is like, and includes links to all previous parts. The article covers:
- The work of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the scientific background of the Joy in Work framework.
- Defining the small, every day frustrations, or pebbles in our shoes, that can have an impact on our teams, and how to overcome them.
- Understanding the components of workplace joy that can make a difference in how a team feels and works.
- The proven wellbeing and safety benefits of checking in with team members and discussing difficult experiences.
- Practical steps all team members can take to improve team spirit and performance.
- The connections between quality improvement and improved workplace wellbeing.
Further resources
Restoring the joy: dealing with post-Covid burnout
In this podcast, Jesse McCall, who co-leads the Joy in Work Results-Oriented Learning Network at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, discusses the factors that diminish joy in work, and practical steps that teams can take to work together to nurture their workforce and address the issues that drive burnout and sap joy in work. Recorded at SPVS-VMG Virtual Congress in May 2021.
What matters to you: conversation guide for leaders
Adapted from the original IHI framework, this resource is intended to support leaders within the veterinary sector in introducing the Joy in Work concept to their teams. The conversation guide will support you in setting up initial and continuing conversations with your team to identify any workplace frustrations, or ‘pebbles in your shoes’, and to engage and empower the team to identify potential solutions.
Article reference
McCall, J. and RCVS Knowledge (2023) A scientific approach to living your best work life. Vet Times, 53 (44), pp. 14. Available from: https://www.vettimes.com/news/vets/wellbeing-at-work/a-scientific-approach-to-living-your-best-work-life-cpdyou
