What Does Psychological Wellbeing at Work Mean to Healthcare Professionals' and for Patients' Experiences of Care?

To explore perceptions of healthcare professionals' psychological wellbeing at work and patients' experiences of care.

Narrative interviews were undertaken as part of a wider experience-based co-design study.

Interviews were undertaken March to December 2022 with 19 participants (healthcare professionals n = 13 and patients n = 6) from a community hospital and analysed for emotional touchpoints using reflexive thematic analysis.

Ten themes were synthesised into five categories: (1) What is psychological wellbeing at work? (2) Barriers to psychological wellbeing at work ('Misaligned NHS Culture' and 'Pressurised System'); (3) How negative psychological wellbeing at work impacts on staff and patients' experiences of care ('Staff Struggle to Survive' and 'Patients Suffer'); (4) Enablers of psychological wellbeing at work ('Nurturing Culture' and 'Teamwork'); and (5) How positive psychological wellbeing at work impacts staff and patients' experiences of care ('Staff Thrive' and 'Patients Benefit').

Poor psychological wellbeing negatively impacted healthcare professionals' health and their ability to provide care. In response, patients deliberately withheld requests for help, risking their recovery. Conversely, when psychological wellbeing was supported, staff provided more relational care with improved patient experience.

A nurturing culture and teamwork are positive enablers of staff psychological wellbeing and can be used to improve staff and patients' experience.

This is one of the first studies to demonstrate that patients modify their behaviour in response to perceptions of staff wellbeing, with implications for their recovery.

COREQ.

Members of the public advised on the patient-facing materials and the overarching study design.