Beyond the Obvious: Redefining Nurse Well-Being Strategies
- 20 minutes ago
- 4 min read
It is no longer a question of whether nurses experience high levels of stress and burnout. The evidence is well established, widely studied and consistently measured across health systems. What remains less settled is how organizations choose to respond.
A 2023 JAMA Health Forum study found high and widespread burnout rates among hospital physicians and nurses, along with concerns about turnover and patient safety. Perhaps more telling, however, was what clinicians themselves identified as meaningful solutions. While wellness programs and resilience training have become common organizational responses, many clinicians expressed a clear preference for changes tied to staffing adequacy, workload control and work environment.¹ In other words, the challenge is not a lack of awareness but rather a question of alignment between what is offered and what is needed.
While wellness programs and resilience training have become common organizational responses, many clinicians expressed a clear preference for changes tied to staffing adequacy, workload control and work environment.
Requests for leadership to address these concerns have been voiced for years, yet meaningful system-level change can often take an excruciatingly long time. What is clearer, however, is which interventions clinicians themselves find most effective in the meantime. Evidence consistently points to approaches that are individualized and relational, focusing on stress reduction and small‐group programs to promote community, connectedness and shared meaning.²
These interventions are most effective when supported by a strong and aligned ethos at the individual, team and organizational levels. Ethos gives meaning to the work itself, while shared values guide decisions under pressure and beliefs shape whether well-being is seen as essential or expendable. At the individual level, character strengths—such as gratitude, perseverance, humility, kindness and compassion—help clinicians stay grounded amid constant demand. Together, these elements create the conditions for human flourishing, supporting resilience while reducing burnout, stress and mental exhaustion.
Accordant's ethos: Awakening Virtues in Health Care approach focuses on developing, teaching and implementing evidence-based practices to enhance well-being initiatives. These initiatives aim to empower individuals, strengthen medical teams and positively impact health care organizations and the communities they serve.
Accordant Principal Consultant Linda Roszak Burton and an international research team conducted a study in 2023—Leading, Connecting, Coping: Nurses’ Responses to Sustaining Well-being in Crisis Conditions—and identified three key insights for health care organizations seeking to strengthen nurse well-being in meaningful and sustainable ways:
Flexibility and Leadership
Frontline innovation in health care delivery is strongest under collaborative and adaptive leadership, while authoritarian approaches can hinder progress. Consultative leadership can support effective decision-making and responsiveness during crises.
Peer and Team-Based Support
Peer relationships are the most valued source of support and are critical to maintaining resilience and well-being. Strengthening team cohesion before crises can provide a solid foundation for support during periods of increased stress and uncertainty.
Proactive Self-Care
Nurses need self-care options that are flexible, accessible and embedded into organizational culture, not reactive offerings introduced only after stress has escalated. Sustained well-being depends on proactive, well-resourced support that acknowledges individual needs and circumstances.
Turning Research into Action
The findings are clear. Health systems must ensure nurses have the autonomy within their environment to strengthen peer-to-peer relationships and actively shape unit culture, with no tolerance for toxic behaviors such as “eating their young,” gaslighting or ignoring patterns that erode psychological safety.
Organizations must also recognize one size does not fit all when it comes to self-care and health and well-being improvement. Flexible, individualized options are essential. Emerging research suggests incorporating biometrics into well-being programs may help strengthen autonomic health and self-awareness. In one 12-week study with police officers, participants demonstrated improvements in autonomic health, mindfulness and social connection.³
Organizations must also recognize one size does not fit all when it comes to self-care and health and well-being improvement.
Working with a national board-certified health and well-being coach (NBC-HWC) can address an important gap in many employer-sponsored well-being programs. Coaching provides the individualized focus that both nurses and physicians consistently report finding most valuable. These HIPAA-compliant programs often incorporate biometrics such as blood pressure, blood glucose or A1c, cholesterol, sleep and broader dimensions of well-being.
Still, biometrics should never be the whole story. Accordant’s ethos of defining values, beliefs and character strengths supports not only physical health, but also identifies purpose, mindset and human flourishing.
Additionally, a strong nurse well-being strategy should bring ethos, biometrics, coaching and individual choice together, transforming them into realistic, measurable health and well-being practices that can be sustained over time.
National Nurses Week offers an opportunity to move beyond recognition alone and toward a deeper investment in nurse health and well-being—one that elevates work environments while reinforcing an important message: nurses’ health and well-being matter and are foundational to both workforce sustainability and patient safety.
Want more? Take some time to complete the National Nurses Week Worksheet: Honoring Well-Being, Ethos & Gratitude—designed to help nurses (and those who support them) reflect on well-being, express gratitude and identify simple, meaningful action steps. Complete it yourself or share it with a nurse you know and appreciate!
¹ doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.1809
About the Author: Linda Roszak Burton BS, BBC, ACC, is a Principal Consultant, a certified executive coach and a National Board Certified Health and Well-being Coach (NBC-HWC) with Accordant. She is the author of Gratitude Heals: A Journal for Inspiration and Guidance. Her TEDx Talk on the Power of Gratitude was released in 2022. You can reach her at Linda@AccordantHealth.com for information on her well-being coaching programs or connect with her through LinkedIn.
