Resident-Driven Wellness Initiatives Improve Resident Wellness and Perception of Work Environment

Resident burnout is associated with increased adverse patient events and increased incidence of resident depression and suicide when compared to the general population. We hypothesized that resident-driven assessment and implementation of wellness measures would allow implementation of desired interventions and facilitate improvement in wellness.

A wellness intervention team was established to address resident wellness and job satisfaction. A needs assessment to determine desired interventions as well as a three-part anonymous 5-point Likert scale survey was developed and distributed to general surgery residents. Following implementation of three measures, a postintervention survey was administered at 6 and 15 mo to the same cohort. Analysis of variance test was used to evaluate for significant difference between preintervention and postintervention surveys.

Three interventions were implemented: two protected weekday personal days per year, modernization of resident workspace, and additional meal funds. There were statistically significant changes in perceptions of wellness opportunities (3.14 versus 3.88 and 3.7; P < 0.05), time for wellness (2.53 versus 3.42 and 3.2; P < 0.05), work/life balance satisfaction (2.86 versus 3.71 and 3.41; P < 0.05), and improved quality of life (2.67 versus 3.3 and 3.0; P < 0.05) in both 6-mo and 15-mo postintervention responses.

Implementation of resident-selected wellness measures was found to influence overall resident satisfaction and improved perception of the working environment. Several scores of wellness items showed sustained improvement at 15 mo. These results suggest that resident-driven wellness interventions can positively affect working conditions for residents.