Meaning, Fulfillment, and the Work of Healthcare

Experiencing meaning and fulfillment in healthcare work is recognized as important for those in nursing, medicine, respiratory therapy, social work, and other health disciplines. Critically, moral distress, compassion fatigue, staff burnout, and individual health have all been linked as related phenomena when such experiences are compromised. And yet, we may question whether we truly understand the meaning of meaningfulness and fulfillment. What calls health providers to come to work, again and again, despite the complex and difficult situations that they have to deal with? What are sources of meaning and fulfillment? How do we understand these phenomena? The context of newborn intensive care deserves special consideration as healthcare providers manage clinical acuity, respond to infant illness, support stressed families, navigate ethical decision-making, and work through complex team dynamics. In this paper, we explore and reflect on anecdotes of meaning and fulfillment as described by healthcare providers to explicate these phenomena.