What Is Wellness and Why Is It So Important in Our Workplace?
Published on Saturday, April 24, 2021
By: Michelle Sheth, M.D.
The National Wellness Institute defines wellness as “an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.”(1) In the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine here at UMMC, the wellness workforce group is committed to promote and improve the well-being of faculty and staff by providing education, support, and services. Our goal is for all UMMC anesthesiology staff to be engaged in healthy habits and feel supported and positive about their work-life balance.
The wellness workgroup formed in Feb 2021 has been busy creating a series of wellness surveys that we will roll out to the staff starting in July 2021. After assessing needs and issues, we will be implementing initiatives and checking wellness quarterly through Qualtrics.
John Hopkins has a clarity capsule that staff can enter for a few minutes of calm and tranquility from the phone calls and emails, listen to the calm app or music, recharge and rejuvenate. Although we are unlikely to get this space, we still need to intentionally take moments to reset, recharge and rejuvenate. You can read more about this capsule at https://hub.jhu.edu/at-work/2018/11/09/clarity-capsule-east-baltimore/.
Wellness workgroup members include Doug Bacon M.D., Michelle Sheth M.D., Frank Bonvillian M.D., John Bethea M.D., Tanith Graham M.D., Anesh Rugnath M.D., Patricia Amolenda M.D., Claudio Cesar Do Nascimento, M.D., William Chang M.D., Justin Pipkins M.D., Marty Waddell M.D., Cheryl Marble, Cornell Graham, Dominique Wells, and Hayden West. These members were either nominated by their peers or have shown a commitment to wellness within our department, and each one represents a specific subset within our department.
Wellness is a culture of caring for one’s self and others. Through education, engagement, and commitment, we can achieve measurable benefits such as faculty and staff retention, promotion and tenure, overall job satisfaction, and work-life balance.
If you are interested in joining our team please email Dr. Sheth at msheth2@umc.edu.
References
1. https://nationalwellness.org/