A qualitative exploration of clinicians' experiences and perceptions of a well-being leadership development training...

Healthcare worker burnout is a national challenge, with implications for healthcare worker well-being and mental health, the quality of patient care, and healthcare costs. The Clinician Wellness Council (CWC), a 15-month well-being leadership development training program, was designed and implemented to provide practicing clinicians ("CWC members") across several clinical groups within the Providence health system with skills, coaching, and community to address the local drivers of their clinical groups' burnout. The purpose of this study was to explore CWC members' experiences with and perceptions of the impact of this program on their well-being leadership development, including their knowledge, insight, and mindset toward addressing workplace burnout.

We conducted four virtual focus groups with a total of 21 Providence clinicians who recently completed the well-being leadership development training program. Focus groups were analyzed using a rapid qualitative analysis method.

We generated three themes in our analysis: transformed well-being mindsets, guiding well-being leadership principles, and cultivating factors for well-being leader development.

In-depth insights from our analysis suggest a positive impact on participating clinicians. They shared a transformational well-being leadership development experience that included mindset shifts and the emergence of guiding well-being leadership principles. They also reported a reduction in burnout and increased confidence in their capacity to effect change. Participating clinicians highlighted health system financial commitment, relationships and sense of community, and knowledge and skill-building as the three structural program components that cultivated their development as well-being leaders. Study findings can inform other health systems seeking to design and implement a similar training program to support clinician well-being leadership development and address local drivers of clinician burnout.